We can only imagine what the beginning of man’s existence was like and to this day no one has been able to verify exactly what happened to create the planet but we do know that at some point the earth took on form and was filled with light. I believe the Genesis 1 account, “In the beginning the earth was formless and empty and darkness was over the deep, and the spirit of God hovered over the waters. God spoke, “Let their be light,” and there was light and then God said the Light was good.
And thus, Light was the first good thing created and all good things to come after that came from the Creator of Heaven and Earth.
So here begins my quest for all things good. “You are good, Lord, and what you do is good, teach me your ways.” Psalm 119:68
God separated the light from the darkness and the day from the night. After a discussion recently, I pondered what it meant that the only light that the night gets is actually a reflection of light. The moon reflects the light of the sun, the day’s light. God separates the day from the night, light from darkness, and yet shines a light into the darkness without it actually being in the darkness. In the same way, we are a reflection of God’s good light into a dark world. I believe that is our mission to reflect the Father’s love and light into the love-lacking and dark parts of our world.
Moving on with the creation story, the other things God created and said were good were land and seas, vegetation, fish and birds, and land creatures. Interestingly enough, he created man but did not stop to proclaim it was good nor did he say the sky was good. However, after he was finished creating, including man and woman and sky, he did say it was good. So the sky and man, got no individual proclamation of good but were considered good in the context of All that was created. Are we not good apart from the whole of creation itself? When he was finished, God looked at ALL that was created, which included sky and man and then proclaimed, “it is very good.”
In my quest for all things good, I have made some surprising discoveries. Good fruit doesn’t always point to a good source. Such as when Cain decided to give God the first fruits of his crop, it wasn’t because he was good, it was because he thought he had to to get something back. It is the intention of the giver that makes an act good. Like a child who is told to tell another child they are sorry. Their words are good but that doesn’t guarantee they are actually sorry. Often parents are more concerned with the words, the outer appearances of their children’s actions and how they look in public than their child’s hearts. The only concern you should have for your child is their good heart. Without a good heart, you can not raise a good child.
“To the good all things are good but to those who are corrupt, nothing is good, both their mind and consciences are corrupted.” Titus 1:5
My quest for all things good has only just begun. It will be an interesting journey. One thing I am certain of is that all things good come from the Father, the Creator of heaven and earth,. If God is everything good, then everything good is of God.
“Stand at the crossroads and look, ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it.” Jeremiah 6:16