A GOOD MAN
Right from our childhood, regardless of our religion or
the family lineage that we belong to, we are always told to be a good
person. A common advice or a word of exhortation
that is spoken over our children, particularly by grandfathers and
grandmothers, is “Child, you must grow
up to be a good person”. But what does
that mean?
Many a time, what we look or what we evaluate as
goodness are a person’s disposition, demeanor and discipline. We judge based on what meets our eye. There are celebrities who dole out millions in
charitable and philanthropic activities. Surely, they feed many hungry mouths
and build many deprived homes. They are,
in a way, ‘God in human form’ to those beneficiaries. But, can their generosity alone make them
good?
Who is a good man?
What does the Word of God say?
Astounding question
Mat 19:16,17 And, behold, one came
and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have
eternal life? And he said unto him, Why
callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou
wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.
A rich young man asked Jesus the way to eternal life. Before replying, Jesus responded with a shocking
question: Why do you call me good? The young wouldn’t have expected this. The
embodiment of all goodness was refusing to wear the “Good Master” label. If that be the case, where is the good man that we are looking for?
Apostle
Paul, quoting from the Book of Psalms, says, “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one
seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become
worthless; no one does good, not even one.” (Romans 3:10-12). Now, the challenge becomes even stiffer! Where to find the good man?
Made Good Man
Rom 5:19
For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of
one shall many be made righteous.
Jesus said only God is good. Paul says man is not good because of his
failure to seek God.
We are, in fact, made
righteous (and good) by (the obedience and the sacrifice) of Lord Jesus
Christ. But the process does not end there. It
actually begins from there. Jesus
expects those who are made good to deliver the goods or in other words give fruit.
Jesus said, A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good
things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things
(Mat 12:35).
A tree (signifying a man) is known by its fruit: What he gives/does/reflects? How he
reflects outside?
A good man bringeth good things from the good treasure
of the heart: What he is/thinks/feels?
According
to our Lord, Good (Sanctified) thoughts
and Good (Selfless) acts only make one a good person.
ESTABLISHES,
DELIGHTS, UPHOLDS
Psa 90:17
And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us: and establish thou the work
of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish thou it.
A
bouquet of blessings is guaranteed to a GOOD MAN. More than any other blessings viz., finance,
job, wealth or even property, we should
have the assurance of being led by the Lord in our goings and comings, in our plans, our ventures,
our endeavors, our educational goals, the life of our children, their marriage
and etc., We may have our own plans
and pursuits in all these areas. But our
prayer is for the Lord to establish it.
Because, if it is established by the Lord, none can spoil or suspend the
same. The Bible says, Except the LORD build the house, they labour
in vain that build it (Psa 127:1).
Num_14:8
If the LORD delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it
us; a land which floweth with milk and honey.
The
children of Israel were delivered from the iron-chamber of Egypt by Moses and
he was leading them to the Promised Land.
It was God’s plan for his people.
However, during their wilderness journey when they murmured against their
leader Moses for the way and preferred returning to Egypt, Joshua said, “The Lord will indeed give the
land flowing with milk and honey, if only the Lord delights in us. Our lifestyle, our attitude, our acts should
be pleasing to the Lord. How can we delight God? In many ways.
But what stands foremost is our faith. (1) But without faith it is
impossible to please him. For he that draws near to God must believe that he
is, and that he is a rewarder of them who seek him out (Heb 11:6) (2) Now the
just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall
have no pleasure in him.
Psa
18:35 Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation: and thy right
hand hath holden me up, and thy gentleness hath made me great.
Psalmist
often refers to his Lord as the one who
holds him, who pulls him up, who guards his feet from falling, sliding, slipping.
The Lord is magnanimous enough to pull even those who slip knowingly. When
Peter was about to get drowned, Jesus did not just rebuke, he extended his hand
to lift him up.
Psalmist
further declares, ‘the Lord UPHOLDETH the righteous’ (Psalm 37:17). Being
lifted up by God is indeed a great privilege of the righteous. The LORD hastens to pulls all those who are
Good – both in thought and deed. Yes, it is a wonderful PROMISE of the Lord to
a Good Man!
Five Dimensional Nature
Acts 10:38 How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth
with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all
that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.
Who then is a good man?
Jesus is the perfect example of a man who was good in
thought as well as in deed. Even though
he carried cross, for the sake of mankind, God exalted him and gave him a name
which is above every name.
Even today, as a believer filled with the Holy Ghost
and armed with the power and presence of God, if you live and walk as a ‘God
fearing good Man’ , ‘Good Woman’ you will also be exalted by the LORD in due
time. Hallelujah!
We shall look at few individuals, some incidents from
the Gospel accounts to understand this even better. These men/incidents teach us
qualities that a GOOD MAN should exhibit in his life. These characters also challenge us to live as
GOOD MEN and GOOD WOMEN
1. Good Samaritan –
Caring for the strangers ( Luke 10:30-37 )
Luk 10:33 But a certain Samaritan, as he
journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on
him,
In this story, we meet a person who stops to care for
a person - a stranger - fighting for his life.
He provides first-aid, takes him to hospital and even pledges to settle his
medical expenses. Jesus was answering the question who your neighbor is? Jesus
said, neighbor is not someone who is next to you. Any person in need, who
crosses your way, whether you know him or not, is your neighbor. We may not have the means to do all that the
Samaritan did to all the strangers, all the time. But we must be mindful to help even strangers. Do what you can to whom you can with what you
have! Be a Good Man.
2. Good Father
– Compassionate with the family members (Luke 15:11-15:32)
Luk 15:20 And he arose, and came to his father.
But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion,
and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.
The younger son of a rich father took his share of the
wealth and squandered it in immoral living.
A father who has garnered wealth through hard work and toil can never
accept that. Leave alone receiving him
back, an ordinary father would use every word in the dictionary to reprimand,
reprove and even punish his son. But in this story, the father acts differently. Much to the irritation of his elder brother,
the father not only receives him but celebrates his return. How is that
possible? That is Father’s love. That should be the father’s love. Not
just father. This is the kind of love,
compassion, acceptance, forgiveness that family members are expected to show to
each other. How good a father, mother,
husband, wife, son, daughter you are? Are
you living in enmity with your own kith and kin? You need to take a leaf out of this father’s
book. A Good man loves and accepts the
family members even when they go wrong.
3. Good Servant – Committed to the Master
(Mat 24:45-51, Mat 25:14-30)
Mat 24:45 Who then is a faithful and wise
servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in
due season?
Jesus spoke two parables to his disciples on the
commitment that a servant should show to his Master. Though these stories are largely used to teach
us about the preparedness for Lord’s soon coming, the underlying truth, I feel,
is about the relationship between the employer and the employee. Today, in many places, the employees are a discontented lot. Breach of trust, financial impropriety and even
homicide within the office premises has become quite common. On the other hand,
people are also not true to the time and salary they receive. Employers exploiting employees and employees
cheating employers, both are rampant these days.
Jesus, in these stories, models to us the image of a
Good Manager and Good Servant. A Good
Servant faithfully carries out the responsibility given by his Master, even
when he is not supervised. A Good
Servant uses all his talents for the profit and increase of his Master. A Good Master rewards his Servant’s
faithfulness by granting promotion. A
Good Master rewards his Servant’s productivity by giving him increment. You may be a servant or a Master. How good, faithful?
profitable? are you to your organization.
How honest are you in rewarding your subordinates? Unfaithful Servants, Unfaithful Masters are
dealt with severely. Be a Good Servant!
Be a Good Master!
4. Good Friend –
Constructive soulmate (John 21)
Joh 21:17 He saith unto him the third time,
Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him
the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all
things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my
sheep.
During
his 3-1/2 years ministry, Lord Jesus chose a select few to be with him as his
disciples. He handed over his ministry reins to his disciples, whom he even
addressed as his friends. Apostle Peter, a man who loved Jesus so dearly, at
one stage, back-slided. He not only
denied, he decided to even relinquish his call.. Proverbs 27:17 says Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth
the countenance of his friend. As a
good friend, Jesus did not forsake or terminate Peter. He followed after the one who was called to
follow him! Jesus went to the
disheartened disciple and as one would speak with a friend, he sought
his love! That changed Peter and from
thereon he never turned back. Many a
time, our close friends,associates, loved ones may desert us. How do we respond to their betrayal? Do we
hold on to the grudge? Do we avoid them, discard them? As a Good friend, Jesus won back Peter. On the day of Pentecost, through the sermon
of Peter, 3000 people were saved.
5.Good Disciple – Compliant to God (Mathew 10:37-39)
Luk_9:23 And he said to them all, If any man
will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and
follow me.
A Good man owes a duty to strangers, to family
members, to masters/servants and even unto friends. But this is closely related and deeply rooted
in his relationship with the Lord. Even
today, there are some who want to follow Jesus for bread and fish, for healing
and deliverance, for power and position.
But what kind of a follower or a disciple is a Good Man according to
Jesus? Jesus puts it in two simple
statements: One WHO LOVES JESUS more
than his parents/children. One who TAKES
UP HIS CROSS AND FOLLOWS him. What does
that mean? It is not loving Jesus in place of parents. It is loving him FIRST! It is not just
following. It is
following HIM with the CROSS.
Brothers and Sisters, Sons and Daughters, following
Jesus or being a believer is not an outlandish thing. The term ‘Good Christian’ is indeed an
amusing statement. Because, if someone
cannot be good, he cannot be a Christian.
If Christ is Good, then his followers cannot be bad or cannot afford to
be bad. Certainly, one who has accepted
Christ does not become a good man automatically. He is made good and that is a continual
process. He chisels and shapes every
Christian to be a good person, and to do
good works. Not only that, he reserves
a special promise to those who reflects this nature.
1)
His ways shall be ESTABLISHED of the LORD
2)
His life will be a DELIGHT to the LORD
3)
He will not fall. Even if he, the LORD will LIFT him up!
May the Lord God give to each of us the grace to walk
the talk and be a Good Samaritan, Good Father, Good Servant, Good Friend and a
Good Disciple!
God bless you all.
