Have you ever read all the way through Psalm 119? Throughout this Psalm, we are exhorted to love God’s Word and obey His commands. When we do this, we experience God’s intense goodness.
Since God is good all the time, why is obedience required to experience it? Well, for many facets of God’s goodness, obeying him is not a requirement. He causes the rain to fall on the just and unjust alike, does He not? Crops grow in season for everyone, do they not? A person who has zero knowledge of God may enjoy the beauty of the Grand Canyon or a summer sky filled with clouds. However, when you know God and obey His decress, the rain is more filled with goodness, the crops are tastier, the Grand Canyon has great meaning of what the flood in Noah’s time portended, and summer clouds can give you a deep thrill of Christ ascending into the heavens after His resurrection.
When you know God and obey His commands, everything in this segment of living is so much MORE than you could expect without God.
The doorway to experiencing the fulness of God’s goodness is repentance. Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God died to pay the penalty for our sin. When we trust Christ for His rescue and commit to Him the He is Lord, the door has swung open and we enter new life and the Kingdom of God. To repent means to turn away from the old life embroiled in sin and then we joyfully walk through the doorway to Christ’s Kingdom. Sin and evil and fear and a treacherous road are on one side of the door. On the Kingdom side, there is peace. Obeying God’s commands keeps us from trying to revisit the old road, outside the Kingdom. Once a child of the King, always a child of the King – but you know you are capable of sneaking off to see where you’ve been before you knew Him.
God’s goodness is so wonderful, it is hard to understand why some people keep trekking back over the roads they traveled before they were saved. Here is understanding: staying in God’s Word and learning His commands and sticking to them is the key to staying on the right road. Make even a small effort to stick to God’s plan and He makes the big effort to keep you safely in it. His is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever. He is so good! He is available ALL THE TIME to keep us safe.
Not sure? A word for you – ask the Lord. He will help you read and understand His Word and make His goodness clear to you. It will be immediate, so start reading.
This is an open door. There is no portcullis, no moat, no crossbar, and no guards. Christ is the Door. Walk into His arms and feel His goodness enfolding you.
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