1 TIMOTHY 4:4

For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving

TO PONDER

I remember when 'the Simpsons' first aired on Australian television. I wish I had known this Babe very at the time because my parents sat and watched the first episode with me and at the end of it my dad declared, "what rubbish television, there is absolutely no point to watching that!" After that, I only ever watched the Simpsons while staying at a friends house. It's not that my dad ever 'banned' us from watching it, but the television always seems to get turned off when the theme song started. I wish I could have quoted this scripture to my dad at that point and tried to convince him to let me watch more Simpsons.

However there would have been one major flaw in that argument, 'the Simpsons' was not created by God. Rather they were created by cartoonist and animator, Matt Groening. Everything created by God might be good, but the same cannot be said about everything created by humanity.

God gave all of creation to Adam and Eve - all of it was good. Sometimes, as Christians, we can be tempted to live apart from the world and its evil and wicked ways. There are many who chose to live like that. I can only imagine the kind of fearful existence that cultivates - fear of the evil that lurks outside your doors. Perhaps, the better approach is not fear, but praise. Praise that God is at work restoring the brokenness of the world around us and thanking him for inviting us to partner with him in that work of restoration. After all, the only way to overcome evil is with good. If we hide from evil then it only looms and gets larger. Find the good in God's creation and give him thanks and praise, that's how we overcome evil with good.

PRAYER

God, sometimes good can be hard to find, and sometimes it appears in the most unexpected places. Help me to see the good in your creation and in your people. Help me to give thanks and praise even for those who view the world differently from me and who do not yet acknowledge you. Help me see them the way you do. Amen

Today's devotion written by Mathew von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle