Last week we used Jeremiah 6: 16 as a starting point for our journey to discover the Good Way. God his always made known to his people the direction that he wants them to follow. So in looking for the good way one of the first places to start would of course be the Bible and of course in the Old Testament. So sit comfortably here in the pew, open your Bibles and I’ll share with you some reading that will help you find the direction we need to be going. After we complete this blog today after a thorough reading it go back to these chapters that I’m about to share with you and read them so you’ll have a good context of what we’re talking about. The first place that we’re going to start would be in the 19th chapter of Exodus, versus one through 20. It leads me to have to say that in today’s world there’s not a whole lotta emphasis within the church on the Old Testament, but I have always believed and will continuously believe that it is an essential part of biblical history, study, and learning on the part of all believers. I am really going out on a limb here a bit I guess but I always like to go back to the 10 Commandments. These are commandments that God himself gave they’re from his mouth. They were given to Moses, of course, and the place to look for that story is in chapter 20 of Exodus. Again, I instruct you to read the entire chapter. Sometimes just one or two scriptures from the chapter are sufficient to give us an idea of the subject matter, but to understand the context in the meaning and really get a feel for what has been written, it’s necessary to read all of those versus there in chapters 19 and 20 in Exodus. We’ll move from that part of our Bible and go to Leviticus in the 26th chapter. We find a listing of the reward for obedience along with the punishment for disobedience so if we read verse one through 46 we have an even better idea of what God would have us do and not do. And then we’ll move to Deuteronomy chapter 30 versus 15 through 20, again I encourage you to read that whole chapter. It is my belief that while the Bible gives us many verses that highlight the key expectations God has for humanity that there is one particular first here. I’m going to one I believe says it about as we’ll as any. Micah 6:8 which I believe answers the question as well as any of what does God expects of us, it reads as such…  

“He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.

    And what does the Lord require of you?

To act justly and to love mercy

    and to walk humbly[a] with your God.”

We also give attention to these additional verses. One John 4:8 emphasizes that God is love and therefore, loving others is a core expectation. We can add to that Matthew 22:37–40 which emphasizes loving God and loving your neighbor as yourself as the greatest commandments.

Finding a good way is simply trying to find a way we might live our lives in a way that will be pleasing in God’s eyes. I have used many different sources to put things together for this blog, but let’s move to four points that I think pretty well sums up what we need to do.

The very first one being that we need to have a love for God. We must acknowledge God’s sovereignty. We must seek a relationship with Him, and we should strive at all times to live in accordance with his will and I believe that we need to add this to that .We need to extend that love for others to treating everyone with kindness, compassion, and forgiveness, as well as actively seeking to help those in need.

Number two I think we all have been subjected these days to this deluge of social justice warriors who sometimes I believe their agendas really don’t match up with God’s agenda or His plans for us. I look at justice as meaning to treat all people fairly and with respect, standing up against injustice and not depressing or mistreating others.

Number three is just plain good old-fashioned kindness. Showing compassion and mercy, helping the poor and vulnerable, and being generous with our time and resources.

Number four brings all of this together. Humility simply means being modest, recognizing one’s limitations, and not being arrogant. God desires for us to live a life that reflects his own character, a life of love, compassion, and righteousness.

Life is Good

jk