Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever. Psalm 23:6
C.S. Lewis: Absolute Goodness
“God is the only comfort, He is also the supreme terror: the thing we most need and the thing we most want to hide from. He is our only possible ally, and we have made ourselves His enemies. Some people talk as if meeting the gaze of absolute goodness would be fun. They need to think again. They are still only playing with religion. Goodness is either the great safety or the great danger — according to the way you react to it. and we have reacted the wrong way.”
C.S. Lewis in Mere Christianity (Samizdat University Press, 2014) 21-22.
So why this quote from perhaps one of the greatest books ever written?
God’s goodness and love juxtaposed with our sinfulness and selfishness is a startling thing to contemplate. It leads us to brokenness, godly sorrow, and sober living.
Only when we realize how human we are and how divine God is, and how dreadfully self-centered we are and how absolutely good and generous God is, do we take a step toward generosity. It is then that we have come to realize the truth that we have nothing to offer God but that which we have received from Him.
This leads us to see ourselves simply as humble receivers. But, as Lewis notes, we have acted the wrong way. So, what should we do. Confess the sin and change directions. Start today.
Forgive me God. Teach me to receive and share your absolute goodness and love all around. Amen.