Goodie two shoes. Teacher’s pet. Brown-noser. Joy-kill. There are a lot of other phrases. I’ve been called some of them. They are not considered ‘positive’ descriptions of people. And I’ve heard the question “do we have to be ‘good’ all the time?”
I’ve read that one of the reasons that the Bible is one of the most believable books is because it tells not only of successes but of almost unparalleled failures. So many other inspirational books focus on the good of man, how someone else overcame, how others can do better. One of my favorite characters in the Bible is Daniel; I’ll say it right now, Daniel “did right.” All. Of. The. Time. So why am I talking about the fallibility of man, and then Daniel?
Do you know the story of Daniel? If you don’t, go to the first chapter in the book of Daniel. “In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. And the Lord delivered Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand…” God’s promised people, Judah, had gone against the will of God for enough centuries that that His only option now was to get their attention with hardship. The great nation of Babylon successfully made war against Judah and took their brightest young men and women captive, took gold from their temple. Look briefly at the names of the books before Daniel: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel…these were God’s prophets who spoke tirelessly about the ways Judah and Israel were ‘doing wrong.’ The book Lamentations was of Jeremiah as well; an entire book of his crying out to the people, to God, about the ways they’d wronged God. If you haven’t read them, whew….they’re long, drawn out, sad.
Daniel was one of the young men who was taken from his family and placed in the heart of the kingdom of Babylon. We’re talking ripped away from his parents. Possibly never got to say goodbye. His parents could have been killed in front of him. He’d been raised to believe in Yaweh, their deliverer; now they are anything but delivered. He and several of his friends were made captive and brought to the King’s house to become a King’s man. Can we talk about When God allows breakage ? All you have to do is read the first 1-2 chapters of Daniel to see how Daniel and his friends handled this.
So. To answer the question. Do we always have to ‘do right?’ There is no way this is an exhaustive answer to this. But if we were to follow just this story line, we’d read ‘do wrong, be destroyed; do right, be exalted.’ The commentary I’m reading just covered Daniel; there were several lines that I’m going to share and then leave you to think about the answer. Then go. Do.
The life of the true Christian there are no nonessentials; in the sight of the Omnipotence every duty is important. The Lord measures with exactness every possibility for service. The unused capabilities are just as much brought into account as those that are used. We shall be judged by what we ought to have done, but did not accomplish because we did not use our powers to glorify God.
A noble character is not the result of accident; It is not due to special favors or endowments of Providence. It is the result of self-discipline, of subjection of the lower to the higher nature, of the surrender of self to the service of God and man.
Prophets and Kings p 488
The body is to be brought into subjection to the higher powers of the being. The passion are to be controlled by the will, which is itself to be under the control of God. The kingly power of reason, sanctified by divine grace, is to bear sway in the life. Intellectual power, physical stamina, and the length of life depend upon immutable laws. Through obedience to these laws, man may stand conqueror of himself, conqueror of his own inclinations, conqueror of principalities and powers, of “the rulers of the darkness of this age,” and of “spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” Ephesians 6:12
Prophets and Kings p 489
But only by him who determines to do right because it is right will the victory be gained.
Ellen G. White
