Good

"Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
his love endures forever.
Let the redeemed of the Lord say this—
those he redeemed from the hand of the foe,
those he gathered from the lands,
from east and west, from north and south."
Psalm 107:1-3

Let me tease you with a scary thought today...what if God was not good, and what if God was not loving? Go ahead, try to imagine that scenario, an exercise that I found very difficult to do. But think about it:

If God is almighty and all-powerful - in other words, there is nothing that He cannot do any time He wants to do it. He can create and eliminate. When He speaks, things happen.

If God is omniscient and omnipresent - in other words God knows everything and He is present in every place, in every time all at once. Nothing is beyond Him or hidden from Him.

Imagine if this improbably big and incomprehensible God was without the defining characteristics of goodness and mercy. I mean, if God were bad or evil in addition to all that awesome power and authority He would be incredibly dangerous, and we would find ourselves at the mercy of a tyrannical despot. If God were not good, it would be incredibly bad for us. However, God is good and loving at the core of His being (in addition to all that other stuff). Though I do wonder how often we take it for granted that He is good and loving without really appreciating that fact.

The Psalmist does not take God's goodness for granted. In his song of praise to God he reminds all of us who have been redeemed by the mercy of God to give thanks to Him. We simply ought to give thanks to God because of His goodness. This thanksgiving ought to flow into our everyday lives in which all we do is a testimony of gratitude to God's goodness.

When we choose to pray, we do so with thanksgiving that God is good and will stoop to listen to our prayers.
When we choose to serve, we do so with thanksgiving that God is good and that He chose to come to us as a servant.
When we choose to obey, we do so with thanksgiving that God is good and that His commands are the best way for us to live.
When we choose to love, we do so with thanksgiving that God is good and that He first loved us.

To confess in a God that is good is to live a life of extreme gratitude.

May you know and experience the totality of God's goodness today.

Be God's, Scott