Play Number Seven: "Good Deeds Done Right"
12.6.15
Good deeds are completed by millions everyday. Some of those deeds are conducted by Christians, others are not. Today I want to explore some of the reasons why those deeds completed by Christians are different than those of non-believers. As we play out the Christian Playbook, we see that it is important that our Good Deeds are Done Right.
In Ephesians 2:10, Paul writes:
For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
When we set our minds to do good, we must recognize that we do these things in accordance to the plans that God prepared for us. There are four truths I want to share concerning our service to God and the Good Deeds we accomplish for Him.
1. We Are Shaped By God
For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful.
Psalm 139:13-14
This verse has been used numerous times to explain our physical development. I would extend this shaping and knitting as the Psalmist writes it to also include our personality, talents, intelligence, and other quirky traits that make us who we are as individuals. God shapes each of us to fit into his plan for the sharing of the Gospel and the ultimate glory he desires and deserves. We see this expressed in the passions and commitments of various Christians, churches, and groups to champion a variety of causes and needs. God makes us all unique to fit together and be the Body of Christ - his church.
2. We Are To Be Useful And Valuable
In Matthew 25 we read a story that Jesus tells his followers of a king who left town and set three servants in charge of some resources of his to be watched over in his absence. When he returns, he asks them for an accounting of what they did with the resources he left in their charge. When the first servant returns his portion with great interest by wise investing, Jesus tells us that the king responded, "Well done, good and faithful servant!"
In the children's book series, Thomas The Tank Engine, the highest praise the little trains can receive is the praise that they are "really useful engines" by their company's owner, Sir Topham Hat. The author, Reverend Wilbert Awdry, used these stories to convey the biblical truth that God, the owner and operator of our life, has a purpose for each of us and as we fulfill that purpose we are recognized as being "very useful".
3. Our Good Deeds Are To Be Practical And Purposeful
Later in Matthew 25, Jesus tells another story of the day when he will separate those who believed in him and those who did not. He commends those who truly believed by telling them:
“For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.”
There are numerous things we can do for God. Here we read simple, practical, daily activities that we can conduct ourselves in which result in eternal value. The simple acts of charity such as drink, food, clothing, etc. can have everlasting rewards if done in the name of Jesus and for him. This is where Christians separate from others who do good: the core reason we do good deeds is the spiritual value.
4. Our Good Deeds Brings Glory To God
Peter writes in 1 Peter 2:12 that we should live a life among non-believers so that "though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us."
Our good deeds should bring glory to God, not us. Sure, there may recognition here on Earth, but the final glory will and should go to God. Jesus tells his disciples in Matthew that those who do good things for the sake of receiving glory here on earth will receive their only reward here in this life. When we store up our rewards in heaven, we can be sure that they will not diminish or tarnish, but be available to us for all eternity.
So whether you care for someone who is sick, or crusade to end an illness world-wide, the key to being successful and Doing Good Deeds Right, is doing them for the LORD.
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