Monday, June 22, 2020
Daily Devotional by Brian Chilton
We often say, “God is good all the time,” but do we really contemplate what that means? Around 420 BC, famed Greek philosopher Socrates conversed with a gentleman named Glaucon about the nature of goodness and justice. Socrates held that an objective standard of the Good existed which transcends personal opinion and belief. Plato analyzed their conversation in his book The Republic and likened the Good with the sun as both allowed individuals to see clearly. As the sun allows one to see in the visible realm, the Good allows one to see in the realm of rationality.
Like Socrates, the apostle John notes that “God is light, and there is absolutely no darkness in him. If we say, ‘We have fellowship with him,’ and yet we walk in darkness, we are lying and are not practicing the truth” (1 John 1:5, CSB). While the Bible indicates that God exudes light in God’s appearance, John references the good nature of God in the passage. The apostle notes that God is the standard of the Good and clears one’s path to live in a state of holiness and righteousness.
In a world of information overload, one in which everything is deemed a conspiracy by conservative and liberal extremists alike, truth and goodness can seem quite murky and dim. When we realize that God is the source of goodness and truth, then we may be more inclined to spend less time on Fox News, CNN, and social media, and more time with God. God is the absolute good. Even the bad he allows is meant for a greater good. Trust in God’s goodness and follow the light of his path.