Is it too late to be good?

Santa knows who’s been naughty or nice.
And he’s making a list,
and he’s checking it twice.

Or so the song goes.

He sees you when you’re sleeping,
when you’re awake,
when you’ve been bad or good.

So what does the songwriter tell you to do about it?

You better watch out,
you better not cry,
and you better be good for goodness sake.

Last week, I saw a plaque that read –
Is it too late to be good?

Well, according to Jesus, none of us are good (Mark 10:18). Nope, not a one.
Umm, not exactly Christmas cheer, huh?
Well, actually what Jesus said is, “No one is good – except God alone.”
And frankly, that’s pretty cheery.

God is good.

And because He loves us, He imparts Himself (and His goodness) into us.
And as we yield to Him, we develop Crist-likeness, which is very good.
And it’s never too late to be very good!

We keep striving to become good enough, but in our own strength it’s impossible. It is impossible for Jesus to love us any more than He does already, or to love us any less. He knows everything about us, and loves us anyway!




We can’t earn anything in God’s economy because He already paid the price.
He knows when we’re sleeping and when we’re awake, and so much more:

from Psalm 139
O Lord, you have examined my heart
and know everything about me.
You know when I sit down or stand up.
You know my thoughts even when I’m far away.


You see me when I travel
and when I rest at home.
You know everything I do.
You know what I am going to say
even before I say it, Lord.


You go before me and follow me.
I can never escape from your Spirit!
I can never get away from your presence!
If I go up to heaven, you are there;
if I go down to the grave, you are there.


If I ride the wings of the morning,
if I dwell by the farthest oceans,
even there your hand will guide me,
and your strength will support me.


I could ask the darkness to hide me
and the light around me to become night—
but even in darkness I cannot hide from you.


You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body
and knit me together in my mother’s womb.
Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!
Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.
You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion,
as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.


You saw me before I was born.
Every day of my life was recorded in your book.
Every moment was laid out
before a single day had passed.


Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
Point out anything in me that offends you,
and lead me along the path of everlasting life.

Search me.
Show me.
Lead me.
And if I can’t be “good”, help me each day to be better than the day before.
Jesus, Yours is the only list I want to be on.