The Standard August 8, 2026
Households in the mid-1960s hummed along with songs like “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious,” “Let’s Go Fly a Kite,” “Do-Re-Mi,” and “My Favorite Things.” Julie Andrews had taken the world by storm in her back-to-back movie sensations “Mary Poppins” and “The Sound of Music.” Many of us fondly remember the excitement of seeing a movie on the big screen and the thrill of it finally being shown on the television.
A particularly touching outdoor scene in “The Sound of Music” depicts Maria and Captain Von Trapp realizing their love for one another. Richard Rodgers wrote the sweet tune “Something Good” where Maria sings to The Captain, “For here you are, standing there, loving me, whether or not you should. So, somewhere in my youth or childhood, I must have done something good.”
Certainly, we understand the importance of artistic license and creative liberty. We can enjoy songs and stories that stray from strict theological truths. Still, it is interesting to consider what a seemingly natural human tendency it is to conclude that a happy result must have stemmed from some good action on our part. Some say, “you get what you deserve.” In Scripture we see times when good results in additional good and when bad results in more bad, but we also see the opposite. We know that what will be eternal consequences are not necessarily obvious from a person’s flourishing or lack of flourishing here on earth. At times we get the bad results we deserve in this lifetime and at other times we are spared. The wonderful news is that because of Christ’s death and resurrection, believers will not get the deserved penalty for our sin. Instead, we gratefully recognize the unmerited, undeserved blessings God bestows on us, culminating in heaven.
The author of Ecclesiastes wrestles with the seeming inequity of consequences. “There is something else meaningless that occurs on earth; the righteous who get what the wicked deserve, and the wicked who get what the righteous deserve. This too, I say, is meaningless. So I commend the enjoyment of life, because there is nothing better for a person under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad. Then joy will accompany them in their toil all the days of the life God has given them under the sun.” Ecclesiastes 8:14-15
His advice is for us to delight in daily living – working, eating, drinking, and relaxing. Our purpose is to glorify God and enjoy the life we have been given, recognizing that we receive much more good than our attitudes and actions deserve. “The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him.” Psalm 103:1-13
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