Earthly Good
By Mike Rule

I was recently having a conversation with a sister in Christ regarding being so other worldly that we are no earthly good. This was a grave concern of mine for a long time. As I studied the life of Christ through scripture and saw how He related to people, I realized that He was much more capable of being "earthly good" to people than I could ever be. I have too many prejudices, bigotries, assumptions, etc. to be of any real earthly good. Yes, I can be of "value" to some, but not to all like Christ can. This has been a revelation of my desperate need for His life to flow through me. If all I think about is the "other world" then I am not focused on Christ Himself. I am only focused on the things that surround Him. If this is the case, He is out of focus.

Jesus came to save us from our moment by moment failures, struggles, and difficulties. He is extremely "practical." He came to save us not just from eternal hell, but from our daily (moment by moment) hell. The majority of the time, when scripture refers to God as the God of our salvation, (especially in the Old Testament) it is in the context of the here and now, not the out there some day. Check it out and you'll see what I mean. I am learning that by being totally absorbed into Christ, being of "earthly good" is His responsibility. He is faithful.