Matthew 19:17 “Jesus replied. ‘There is only One who is good.’”
“Want some more coffee?”
“No thanks, I’m good.”
“Can I get you anything else?”
“Nope, I’m good.”
I’m good. It’s a common idiom we use these days. It’s not intended to say we possess a certain character virtue, but that we’re satisfied, content with what we have; we don’t need any more. The rich young ruler who came to Jesus asking him what good thing he needed to do to get eternal life could say he was “good” in a lot of areas. He had money, position, was even morally upright. He possessed so much that he had to ask Jesus what he lacked! (Matthew 19:18-20).
The blessings of life can do that, can’t they? Blind us to our real needs? If we’re not careful we interpret the good things we experience as an assessment of ourselves. We’ve been given good stuff because we must be “good stuff.” But even Jesus said the only One good is God.
Jesus told the rich young ruler that entering the kingdom required he let go of all the trappings which propped him up…all the things that told him he was good. He would have to come with a blank resume, like a trusting unpretentious child. He needed a just as I am without one plea moment. Only then would he discover goodness.
God is always good to us. As the late Rich Mullins penned, sometimes he is “doubly good” even though he doesn’t have to be singularly so. Our response to his goodness ought never be to turn it back on ourselves as if we’re getting something we deserve. On the contrary, we should thank him. Thank him. Simply. Profoundly. Habitually. Thank him. As we do, a tremendous transformation begins to take place. The more we thank him, the more we see how good he is; the more we see his goodness, the greater our gratitude.
When we soak in his goodness, it becomes a part of us. The impossibility of ever becoming good on our own becomes a reality with God. We find complete satisfaction…good in every sense of the word. Some have put it quite succinctly: I am not saved because I am good. I am good because I am saved.
And you know what? I’m good with that! Really good.