IF SOMEONE ASKED ME, “Do you know the difference between good and evil?” I might be offended. I would think, “What are you insinuating about me?” But the truth is I don’t always know. My human thinking skills are not always what they should be.
I make snap judgments and assumptions. I have prejudices. I hear things that aren’t said. I say things I shouldn’t—even though I regret it. I fail to do what I should. I seldom have clarity about good and evil. I need supernatural help.
Humans have always been dexterous at confusing evil with good. That was Adam and Eve’s problem, and it is our problem today. If evil were not made to appear “lovely and good for us,” there would be no such thing as temptation. It is in their close similarity that the danger lies.
It was the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil, not the knowledge of how to handle good and evil—or always distinguish the difference between the two. And “ . . .when we think we know the difference and how we should handle it, we will die.” Only God understands that kind of knowledge.
Our problem burgeons as time goes forward.
I read a commentary that included Isaiah’s curse on those who “. . . call evil good and good evil.” They meant to make a political statement and simultaneously warn us about the encroaching end times. We all see our standards shifting from crisis to crisis. We have NO IDEA how to properly handle good and evil any more than decide which is good or “inaccurate” information on a virus that has killed millions. Doctors disagree! Yet people have opinions across the spectrum as though they were THE authority on it, and take their stand on whatever seems “lovely and good to ingest.” And we are still dying.
We need supernatural help. And in saying this, I’ve learned I may be viewed as “oppressive.” How dare I suggest that science might not hold all the answers! Woe to those who call evil good and good evil.
In whatever the situation, in every decision, choose to let God decide which is good and what is evil. In every answer, choose ultimately to listen to God only. He alone knows good from evil AND how to handle it. Only he can overcome the part of us that always makes the evil choice, and perfectly sort out life’s contradictions.
I lie in my bed nearly every morning and recall at least one bone-headed thing I did in the past, or those ever-nauseous ruminations about things I had the opportunity to do, things I knew I should have done, yet just did not do them. I take some comfort in Paul's confession. The bad news is, I messed up. The comfort comes with the realization that I am, evidently, human:
“The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up. I truly delight in God’s commands, but it’s pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight. Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge.
"I’ve tried everything and nothing helps. I’m exasperated. Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn’t that the real question?
"The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does. He acted to set things right in this life of contradictions where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind, but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different.” ~ Rom 7:21-25
©️ Copyright 2021 Gary Landerfelt MyPericope.com
Comments