January 18: You can't squeeze blood from turnips, or "who is good?"

Genesis 37:1-38:30

Matthew 12:22-45

Psalm 16:1-11

Proverbs 3:27-32

"...how can you who are evil say anything good?  For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.  A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him."

What is it we used to hear?  "You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can't fool all of the people all of the time."  And it's true - because what is inside ultimately finds its way out into the open,.  You don't see a fish come out of a cocoon, and you can't squeeze blood from turnips.  I was talking about this with my daughter the last couple of days, trying to explain to her why it is impossible to exhibit a persona that does not begin from the heart, why it is tough to make people feel appreciated if, deep within,  you don't really do.  

Our Lord points this out when he makes reference to goodness, in counterpoint to his calling the Pharisees a "brood of vipers".  Such vile condemnation would make it seem as though the Pharisees were refusing to be something it was so easy to be - "good".  But we know from yesterday's psalm (Ps 15:1-5) just how difficult it is to be good.  The psalmist asks who may dwell in the Lord's sacred tent and live on His holy mountain.  And the answer is one whose walk is blameless, does what is righteous, speaks truth from the heart, whose tongue utters no slander nor casts slur on others nor does wrong to a neighbor.  Folks, I don't know about you, but there are, like, 17 different reasons in those words why I am not "good".  I suspect that, upon reflection - and upon reflection of the certainty and pervasiveness of our sinfulness - you, dear reader, will agree.

So who can be good?

Well, the psalmist by whose words we understand how we are condemned today gives us hope.  He speaks of a God in whom we can take refuge, "apart from [whom] I have no good thing."  And that is the answer - our goodness isn't in ourselves, it is in our God.  We don't have to be good - we enjoy His goodness, His salvation, when we make Him, and Him alone, our portion and cup.  When we make Him the Lord "who counsels me".  When we "keep [our] eyes always on the Lord." When we do this, He will "make known to me the path of life; [He] will fill me with joy in [His] presence..." - presumably on His holy mountain, in His sacred tent.

Folks, I don't just struggle with goodness - I fail at it.  Repeatedly.  Constantly.  Perpetually.  Consistently.  I am so grateful that the goodness I require does not depend on me; that I can turn to Him whose love for me, whose sacrifice for me, is far greater than all my sins combined.  Thank You, Jesus, for Your salvation, upon which our dependence is complete.