Intentional Righteousness
But we should not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we shall reap, if we do not faint. Galatians 6:9
In Due Time – We want to do good. It’s part of the natural expression of Christ within. Goodness is an essential attribute of the character of God, so those who have His spirit are going to gravitate toward doing good. But it is worthwhile to examine this natural tendency. A little reflection will help us steer in God’s direction sooner rather than later.
What does it mean to do good? The first thing we must recognize from a biblical perspective is that God determines what is good. All that is noble and right and just in our eyes is not necessarily good in His eyes. Outward appearances may not contain the spirit of righteousness. No matter how many of the commandments we keep, there is still the question of motivation. We may still go away sorrowful because we have much at stake. To do good is first to enter into a serious examination of the heart. A fearless moral inventory is itself “doing good” because it prepares us for intentional righteousness. This is step number one.
Having examined our true motives, having put aside those subtle self-satisfying agendas, having recognized when our willingness is actually disguised pride, we are ready for the second step: defining what is good. Of course, the definition of goodness cannot come from our own understanding. Our understanding is the problem. It is filled with second thoughts, personal justifications and religious rationalizations. We must turn to an outside authority – to the instructions from a reliable, trustworthy source. We could start with Torah. After all, God knows what is good. Why not listen to Him? To fulfill the mitzvot of Torah is doing good. Each and every one of them renews the spirit within and brings the delight of honoring the Father. Wonderfully, God has provided daily instructions. You might not be able to feed the poor in Haiti today. You might not be able to sit with a cancer victim in the hospital tonight. But you can follow Torah and in doing so, you bring intentional righteousness into the world. And God smiles.
Finally, for now, we must recognize that a great deal of “good” things are granted that status by human systems. So, it’s good to go to church. It’s good to tithe. It’s good to be civil toward others. And while there is nothing essentially wrong with any of these actions (and hundreds of others), they might not be what the Bible considers good. You see, the Bible puts emphasis on God’s evaluation of goodness. It is not interested in the contemporary version of the smoke of offerings. God wants humble hearts and obedient hands, lips that serve and minds that delight in Him. Besides, how can upholding “good” traditions that violate Torah instructions be good in God’s eyes? Biblical descriptions of doing good are pretty clear. Substitutions are usually not allowed.
“In due time” says Paul. The Greek is a bit odd. Kairon idio is literally “in the pregnant moment of its own.” This is also essential to meditating on doing good, for kairon idio is unpredictable. “In due time” is impossible to plan. It is God’s intervening moment, not our flow-chart conclusion. When do we stop doing good? When God arrives to redirect our efforts. Until then, we work as if He will never arrive and we wait as if He will come in the next second.
Doing good is the call of every follower. It is the role of God’s priest in the world of darkness. The particulars of the assignment have been articulated by the Sender. The mission is clear. Every action counts. The only task ahead is to not grow weary until kairon idio arrives.
Topical Index: in due time, kairon idio, doing good, Torah, Galatians 6:9
-kairon idio-
Good morning all- another day and another gift from above is ready and waiting for us. How will we choose to “spend” our day? Someone once said, “if you want your words to be heard, you should always quote from Ben Franklin.” I hope you recognize the name, (some among us don’t!) because here is one of his quotes: -“do not squander time.. for it is the stuff life is made from.”
Personally.. I like it!
I have (if Adonai allows)- a twenty-four hour day ahead of me. This (according to the “tick of the clock”) is chronos (measurable) time. It is where we (all) live. Down here. “Earth time”/chronos time. Chronos time proceeds in one direction and the seconds turn into minutes and the minutes..etc. Zzzzz.
I like what you do brother Skip.. It is “good” for me to know the words of YHWH. And I have listened daily to your words, given unto you by our Father, I have learned (to my surprise and delight!)- there are two kinds of time! Our (measurable by man’s standards) time is chronos time, but there is another time we catch tiny glimpses of throughout the day (called today!). This is the stuff that makes life worthwhile. These are the events that energize us and empower us and cause us to become “strong in the LORD and in the power of His might.” It is kairos time.
Bring it on people, let’s talk about it. This is “G-d time”. These are glimpses of glory! These are the moments throughout our day when “G-d shows up!”
Have you seen Him in action? Yes, yes and yes! Ask your Father to open your (inner) eyes, and to “see” the things that are not seen. (did that make any sense?)- lol!
Our Father promises to His children- “if you seek for me with all your heart,you will find me.” This “seeking” is not a casual “once per week on Sunday morning” thing. Do we (intensely)-“desire” Him? Do we want to know G-d? Is there an fierce inner desire to know Him? (I hope the answer is yea and amen.) This is- “a good thing!”
Do you want (yes, the inner desire..) to know your Maker? Is this possible or is He just playing with us and holding out before us an unreachable “carrot” before us to tease us?
He is our knowable G-d. (they shall all know Me from the least to the greatest!)
We have His word on it. G-d don’t play and G-d don’t lie. He is not like us at all. He is holy.
I will look for Him today. This is time “well spent”. (After all, that’s all we can do with chronos-time is spend it!). Will I “budget” some time to spend with my Father today? (We must “show-up” also!) -hineni..
We (all) have been given the gift of today. How shall we steward this gift? If we are followers of the Way, we must remember His words (zakar).. “He went about -doing good..”
BTW.. what is one of the most precious gifts our Father/Lover/Giver has bestowed upon us? T-I-M-E. Did we “spend time” with someone we love yesterday? Will we “spend/waste/lavish time” with Someone we love (otium sanctum) today?
As Martha Stewart (-name-dropper!) would say.. “it’s a good thing!”
Hi Carl,
Speaking of Ben Franklin, I think he said “time is money.”
Speaking of time, Skip said:
“The hidden mystery of God splits our chronos”
I hate to turn this wonderful image back into “Greek” thought, but I can’t resist the temptation.
When I think of time, I see a horizontal line with artificial beginning and end points (diachrony).
When I think of space, I see a vertical line crashing down through every point in time (synchrony).
We are in time, God is in space 🙂
Oh, I sincerely hope not. The spatialization of time is a serious philosophical and theological mistake. God sanctified time (sabbath) not space. If we can just get out of the box thinking, we find that time is all that really matters. On a lot of levels (a nice spatial concept). lol.
Ahmein Skip!
The time is now! The time “that is past” is the opportunity provided by ELOHIM for us to optimize our efforts for HIM in “the present”. Yeshua taught us to worry about today for tomorrow is not guaranteed!
As far as space … its a matter of place … as in where am I and how can I live for Him in the moment. Boy if I could only remember this “all the time” I could stay out of my way! LOL
As far as the mystery of time and space …. I only need to know one thing …. ELOHIM is in control … I don’t know how and I don’t spend much time thinking about it either except to thank Him for keeping a lid on things!
Hi Skip et al,
Well it would be a serious philosophical and theological mistake to argue with you about philosophy or theology based upon my relative ignorance of these subjects 🙂
But just on a “common sense” level, I would suggest that when I experience the presence of God, I AM IN the “here and now” and when I’m thinking about the future or the past I am not experiencing the “presence” of God.
Just on a personal level, when I’m thinking about the future (in time) I’m usually worrying about something and planning how to handle it. And when I’m thinking about the past (in time)
I’m usually trying to hang on to something or somebody I’ve already lost. Wasting my time.
On the other hand, I think that understanding history and preparing for the future is very important.
Hi Michael,
You got it. What you describe is a phenomenological approach – how I experience the circumstances. No problem with that. We just have to be clear that we are speaking phenomenologically, not philosophically. Some day we’ll start a discussion about time. Experiencing it is simple. Thinking about it is complicated.
I often find myself praying and thinking about G-d and time. When does eternity start? (Helpful hint.. it already has!). The concept of “eternal life” is actually more of a “quality of life” rather than a “quantity of life.” (I sure would hate to be stuck at the laundromat for a thousand years!)
Has there ever been an event (hopefully recent) in your life when you could say- “G-d did that!” or sometimes we call it (for lack of proper terminology), a “G-d thing.”
Not to get to deep into it, but G-d was present “in the beginning” and He (and we) will be forever. He is also as Brennan Manning states, the “G-d of the now-here.”
Again, because of the enduring, never changing, never diminishing qualities of our Father, we can be amazed when we realize we are praying to the very same G-d, Moses, Abraham and David prayed to.
I don’t know if time actually is “linear” or not, but I do feel as if my life is but a “dot on the line.” That’s ok with me because even though the earth is the LORD’s and the fulness thereof, I am looking forward to life “on the other side.” I do believe what’s going on here is some sort of “boot camp” or maybe a “dress rehearsal” for the “real deal” once we pass through the Door.
Concerning our brief stint here on the planet, we have been instructed to “redeem the time.” G-d has given each of us a special assignment in order to accomplish His will while we still have breath. Now what is the best use of the hours I have left in the day that is called today? How will I steward the time (for His glory)?