It is not uncommon to hear people talk about having 'good books', 'bad books' or 'black books'. These 'books' are not in reality books like we know it, but a mental recording of the deeds of people we encounter in our lifetime. If we are impressed by a person, we mentally record that person in our 'good books'; if on the other hand, we are not impressed, we mentally put that person in our 'bad' or 'black book'. We all keep these 'books'. You may not necessarily use the term 'good book', or 'bad book', but we all keep a mental record of deeds and attitudes of people that we interact with.

Let us note some significant things about these 'books'.

Firstly, the decision on who is in your 'good books' or 'bad book' is entirely yours; though this decision can be influenced by others, but ultimately, that decision is usually yours to make. It is more often based on your perception of the person, and/or his or her character. The criteria you would use to place people in your 'good' or 'bad' books are highly subjective and unique to you. Therefore, the individual that one decides is going to be in one?s 'good books' may not be the same individual that you and I may choose to put in our own 'good books'.

Secondly, we all want to be in the 'good books' of someone whose company and love we cherish or stand to benefit from tremendously. When you want to be in the 'good books' of such a person, you will be willing to do whatever it takes to impress the fellow. We see a lot of this in sororities and fraternities. People have been known to commit heinous crimes to gain acceptance (be in the 'good books') of some fellow or group.

Thirdly, to be in someone's 'good books', one usually seeks the best way to achieve it. This could be directly or indirectly, through the recommendation of someone who has influence with the person into whose 'good books' we want to be in. Hence, people will go the extra mile to be in the boss' 'good books'; and this includes being extra nice to the boss' wife, especially, where they know that she can influence his decisions.

Fourthly, when we find ourselves in the 'bad books' of someone who has a strong influence over our lives, we usually do everything within our power to remedy that situation; and where we are not so inclined, we may choose the option of 'fighting' this individual.

Finally, nobody works hard to be in the 'good books' of another, only to let it go. Once we have made it into a person's 'good books', we usually want the record to stay that way!

Where does the above observation lead us? Well, God has two kinds of books, and they are real! "And I saw a great white throne, and I saw the one who was sitting on it. The earth and sky fled from his presence, but they found no place to hide. I saw the dead, both great and small, standing before God's throne. And the books were opened, including the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to the things written in the books, according to what they had done. The sea gave up the dead in it, and death and the grave gave up the dead in them. They were all judged according to their deeds. And death and the grave were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death--the lake of fire. And anyone whose name was not found recorded in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire." (Revelation 20:11-15). The 'good book' of God is the Book of Life, and His 'bad book' is simply referred to as, 'the books'.

Every human being that has ever walked the face of the earth will one day stand before God in judgment. The deeds of those men (and women) which have been recorded in 'the books' will be used in executing God's judgment against them. Just as a Supreme Court ruling is the final ruling on a matter, God's ruling is final on the eternal destiny of everyone! That is, whether one will spend eternity of life after death in Heaven or Hell!

The decision on who gets into which book is entirely God's. Getting into God's 'good book' requires that you believe in, and accept the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ the Son of God on the cross. You really don't want to fight God, because you can't win, anyway! The bible says, "Why do the nations rage? Why do the people waste their time with futile plans? The kings of the earth prepare for battle; the rulers plot together against the LORD and against his anointed one. . . . But the one who rules in heaven laughs. The Lord scoffs at them. . . . in anger he rebukes them, terrifying them with his fierce fury." (Psalm 2:1-5).

If you are already in God's 'good book', please do all you can to ensure that you don't get struck out from it. But if you are not in it (and you will know), what you need to do is simple: "Serve the LORD with reverent fear, . . . Submit to God's royal son, . . ." (Psalm 2:11, 12). You need to surrender your life to God and serve Him!

It is interesting to hear people say that there is no God! But the bible says, "Only fools say in their hearts, "There is no God." . . . " (Psalm 14:1). Don't be a fool! You may never have seen gravity, but you have experienced it, and it influences your life every day for example, because of gravity, you cannot float in the air. The magnetic pull of gravity ensures that everything thrown up in the air must fall back to the ground. Though we may not see God with our physical eyes today, but we cannot deny His existence. God is real!

For this reason, we counsel you to seek to be in the Book of Life today; tomorrow may be too late! God is merciful and has made a provision for all those who are willing to repent of their sins and return to Him and that includes you! God's 'good book', or the Book of Life, is the way to go! Seek to be included now!

---

Back to all articles