One of my favorite Bible verses is prominently in this week’s Christian Science Bible Lesson: “And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good.” (
Gen. 1:31) It feels like most of the time when I am praying about something, I end up at this verse at some point in my prayers. To me, it is one of those (probably very many!) key ideas in the Bible. Here we are. We’ve just finished reading the story of the first six days of spiritual creation, and we find this amazing statement. God took a look at what all He made, and pronounced it all good.
Have you ever looked up the word “good” in the dictionary? Certainly it is a word we use about every day and I always felt I had a good grasp on the meaning of the word until I looked it up a few years ago. I was amazed at the number of entries for this simple little word (in its adjective form)! In the dictionary I used, I found over 30 entries.
Some of these definitions weren’t surprising. As I read them, I thought, “Yeah, I know the word that way.” But for some, my response was more, “Oh, yeah, it means that, too!” I wrote many of these entries down and have referred to them off and on since. Here are some of what I have:
1) morally excellent; virtuous, righteous
2) satisfactory in quality, quantity or degree
3) of high quality; excellent
4) right, proper, fit
5) well-behaved
6) kind or friendly
7) honorable or worthy
8) educated and refined
9) financially sound or safe
10) genuine; not counterfeit
11) sound or valid
12) healthful, beneficial
13) in excellent condition; healthy
14) cheerful; amiable
15) free of distress or pain; comfortable
16) agreeable; enjoyable
17) attractive
18) smooth; free from blemish
19) sufficient or ample
20) competent or skillful; clever
21) full
22) fertile; rich
23) loyal
In the Hebrew lexicon in Strong’s Bible Concordance, the Hebrew word translated as “good” in the King James Version of the Bible has for its definition “good in the widest sense.” So that sure seems like it encompasses all of the above meanings of the word, and more. How cool is that? “God saw every thing that He had made, and, behold, it was very [excellent, virtuous, fit, well-behaved, friendly, safe, genuine, valid, healthy, cheerful, comfortable, blemish free, sufficient, competent, fertile, rich, loyal, etc.].” And that is true about every element of His creation, including all of us!
Recently, when I was helping someone through prayerful treatment, the words “sealed” and “stamped” popped into my thought. When I looked up definitions for these words, I found that to seal something “confirms it, makes it secure or determines irrevocably or indisputably.” When something is stamped, it is “provided with a distinctive character.” And then it struck me, our stamp or seal is God, Divine Life’s declaration in this verse from Genesis: “very good,” or very [insert ‘appropriate/needed definition of the word good’ here]. These concepts make me think of the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval, or the USDA stamps on various meats, and such things. People trust those and look to them for guidance in making purchase – that the products are of good quality, safe, can be trusted. What a much better seal and stamp we have – we have God’s seal “VERY GOOD” right there on us, permanently, irrevocably. And that’s a pretty distinctive character that can be counted on as our real self.
I can see a few of these definitions that I need to understand better for and about myself. So I’ll be looking at this verse with alternative definitions for good this week – trying to see more clearly what all this good is in my life. So many answers are given in this simple little sentence with its simple little word. Fun!
