IT MAY BE GOOD YET NOT RIGHT

"And

Asa did that which was good and right in the eyes of the LORD his God" (2 Chronicles 14:2).

One of the strange truths of life is that it is not every good thing that is right. I have heard it said that "If it is good, it is God". That may not always be true because it may be good and not right. That you feel good about a thing does not make that thing right. Honey will always taste good in your mouth regardless of who owns it. The taste of the pudding is in the eating and not in the ownership. So, the fact that another man's honey is sweet in my mouth does not make it right for me to take what does not belong to me. 

Under normal circumstances, every healthy and sexually active adult will enjoy sex regardless of whether they are married or not. However, that you enjoy intimacy with someone you are not married to certainly does not make it right. There are many other things we do that we may have no qualms whatsoever about and no pangs of conscience at all. But from our knowledge of the righteous ordinances of God, we have enough sense to know that those things are not just right. You arrive at the place of maturity when you are able to go beyond doing the merely good to doing that which is good and right. 

A man once boarded the wrong flight. The airlines had cancelled several flights because of bad weather. Passengers were already getting agitated. Weather cleared and several crafts had to be boarded to await their turns for takeoff. In the rush, due diligence was not followed in the boarding procedures. Our friend had taken his seat in a very comfortable place on board the aircraft. Then the flight attendants began to provide information which made the man to realize he was on the wrong flight. Would he be right to say that since he was comfortably seated at the window side which he loved so much, and since everything felt so good in this particular aircraft, it would not matter wherever the flight was headed? Surely, if he took that approach, he would never get to the right destination. 

That which is good may bring us present profit, comfort and advantage. But it is only that which is right that brings pleasure to God and gets us approval from Him. Of course, when we do the things that pleases God, He in turn works for our pleasure. That was the experience of King Asa whom God gave fantastic victories and made to be very successful in all his undertakings. It was just as when Moses told the children of Israel that it will go well with them and their children only when they "do that which is good and right in the sight of the LORD" (Deuteronomy 12:28). 

Finally, let us also note that the standard for judging what is good may sometimes be found in our likes and dislikes, but we must look to the eyes of the Lord, the righteous judge to determine what is right. To do what is right is to do what the Spirit of God approves and the Word of God unambiguously endorses. When you do that which is right in the eyes of the Lord, He does what is good for you.