Naughty And Nice

Naughty and Nice

The Medium Of Endor

Read: 1 Samuel 28:15-25

Erin was shocked to realize that she had just been chatting and laughing with a woman she had planned to avoid for the rest of her life. This couldn’t be the head of the local atheists’ group, the woman whose vocal protests had led to the removal of Christmas carols from the school’s winter concert, the leader of the petition drive to ban the traditional Easter cross from the courtyard square. How could this woman be so nice? Must have left her horns and pitchfork at home, Erin mused.

Saul visited a medium who engaged in practices condemned by God as detestable and punishable by death, yet she also displayed a different side. When Saul fell on the ground, paralyzed by the bad news he had just heard, the woman showed concern for him. She pleaded with him to eat so that he could regain his strength. Then she hurriedly killed and prepared a calf, baked bread, and served a meal to Saul and his men. They couldn’t have asked for a more generous, kind, or attentive hostess.

However, being nice is not the same thing as being godly. Even those who actively fight against God may have loving, empathetic personalities, but that’s not enough to get people into heaven. It’s not a matter of our nice deeds outnumbering our naughty ones. We all fail to live up to God’s standard of perfection. That’s why we need a Savior.

Being nice will never cover up deliberate disobedience. It may make other people want to be around us, but niceness can be superficial and even self-centered. Godliness results when God’s Spirit controls us. Even our best efforts at being nice are meaningless apart from a foundation of trust in God. They can never make up for a sin, whether it’s practicing necromancy or refusing to believe in God.

Everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.

Romans 3:23