Doing What's Right In The End

Guest Post by Gabe Jones

One of my favorite parts of being a parent is having an excuse to watch some of the older shows (cartoons) I used to watch as a kid, but now with my son.

As kids grow older their interest in shows/movies change. Right now, my son’s favorite movie franchise is Pixar’s Toy Story.

Admittedly, I had previously never seen any of the Toy Story movies until my son chose to watch the first one. The movies follow Woody, a Sheriff, and a rag tag group of toys on their adventures while humans have no idea that these toys are walking, talking creatures with different personalities.

Something that struck me while watching the franchise is Woody’s devotion to please his owner. He does whatever he has to do to make sure they’re happy. Now, this doesn’t always come easy to Woody, and he certainly doesn’t always make the right decisions.

However, you can tell his heart is in the right place, and he usually finds himself doing what’s right in the end.

I think one of the reason’s I like Woody so much is because he reminds me of one of my favorite biblical figures, King David. David perhaps is best known for slaying Goliath or being chosen as king of God’s people at a young age.

However, what draws me to David is his unwavering devotion to the Creator.

This isn’t to say that David was perfect.

His shortcomings are well noted from adultery and conspiracy to murder, to flat out disobeying orders from God. One might even ask what makes David any different from his predecessor King Saul, who was relieved of his duties due to his own acts of disobedience.

I believe the answer lies in 1 Samuel 13:14 “the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart.”

What sets David apart is his ability to reconcile himself to God. No matter what wrong he’s done, he puts his pride aside, and usually finds himself doing what’s right in the end.

God doesn’t expect us to live perfect lives because sinful nature is in all of us. What God does expect us to have is our hearts set on Him and not our own desires. Having our hearts set on Him allows us to get things wrong, but ultimately repent, or turn back to God and do what is right.

When we struggle to take accountability for what we’ve done wrong and make things right in the eyes of God, that’s when we know that we’re no longer seeking God’s heart, but instead doing what pleases our own.

Be encouraged knowing that God is forgiving, and there’s nothing we can do to make him not love us. When our hearts are ultimately set on God, we’ll usually find ourselves doing what’s right in the end.

Anyway, I was just thinking…

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Gabe Jones (and his wife, Renee, and son Micah)