Ready for Every Good Work--When I played college football we spent an awful lot of time preparing for contingencies, based on what we understood about the particular opponent we were going to play.

Uses of the Law: To Guide Us in Doing Good (5)

T. M. Moore

Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work… Titus 3.1

When I played college football we spent an awful lot of time preparing for contingencies, based on what we understood about the particular opponent we were going to play. If your opponent did this, you had to be ready to adjust; if he went that way, or tried this formation, then you had to be able to respond appropriately. So we studied play books and films, had team meetings, and practiced, practiced, practiced.

If only Christians took doing good works as seriously! Paul says we are to be a people who are “devoted” to good works (Titus 3.8) and that we must “learn” to be such people (v. 14). Doing good as a way of life will not come naturally to us; it will not blossom in us simply as a result of spending time in church. If we are going to be ready with whatever good work the people around us might need on any occasion, we’re going to have to prepare well.

That means getting to know people, being a good conversationalist, listening well, and praying faithfully for the people God puts around us day by day. The better we know them – like my opponents in college – the better we will be able to respond to whatever situation might arise in their lives.

But we also need to pore over the “playbook” – the Law of God as given by Moses and interpreted through the Prophets, Jesus, and the Apostles. Hiding the Law of God in our hearts is the only way to ensure that it will be there when we need it in order to show the love of God to our neighbors.

It you’re not a student of God’s Law, you can’t “learn” to do good works. And if you don’t learn to do them, you will not be ready when the opportunity arises. This is not the way for us to be a people who are defined by and devoted to good works. It is, however, a very excellent way for the salt of our faith to lose its savor.

For a practical guide to the role of God’s Law in the life of faith, get The Ground for Christian Ethics by going to www.ailbe.org and click on our Book Store.