A Good Thing, But Not a God Thing

As we look at the world today, we can see a lot of things that need to be done. The homeless needs shelter and to be fed, abandoned children need loving homes, and even our churches need people to fold the programs and clean the facilities. All these tasks are admirable through which we could show forth the love of Christ to a lost generation.

However, these tasks take time out of your busy schedules. Time is precious; it’s more precious than diamonds and sometimes worth more than what is in your bank accounts. So instead to cleaning your home, you take your valuable time to care for the homeless, the fatherless, and the church…surely you’ve done a good thing in God’s eyes. You’ve sacrifice your time as an offering to the Lord…this has to be a good thing.

But what about the things He has His thumb on and demanding that you change? What about the things that God reminds you of in prayer or when you enter into His presence? It could be something very minuscule, but the fact that God pointed it out demands your utmost attention.
We could busy ourselves doing good things, but miss God’s purpose for our lives. The more busy work we do and ignore God’s demand for change, the more we drift off track from our target. We become distracted and bumped slightly to the left or right until we miss the goal completely – pleasing the Lord.

Galatians 1:6b-7a says, “You are following a different way that pretends to be the Good News but is not the Good News at all” (NLT). Yes, doing those things mentioned in the opening paragraph has the possibility to bring God pleasure, but obedience is His method. God did away with the sacrifice system. 1 Samuel 15:22 says, to obey is better than sacrifice. Don’t get caught up in the worldly system of doing good things.

So what’s the difference between good things and God things? Good things are temporal. Their situation may have drastically changed, but it lacks the Creator’s power to become new. Sometimes doing the good thing can have an adverse effect on a person’s Christian walk. But God things are eternal. Once a person comes in contact with God, their life is changed permanently as God exposes Himself and redirects their path. So I challenge you to do the God thing even when it’s difficult and seemingly fruitless.

Abrian Haynes