We have a saying in the South, actually we have many sayings in the South. Some of them make more sense than others. One that I am particularly fond of is "Good Ol' Boy." The term however is hard to place. It is definitely male, that much is obvious, but the "good" part is a little harder to define.
You don't exactly have to be of the greatest moral character to have the term "Good O'l Boy" ascribed to you. You can be a good ol' boy and drink, you can even drink to excess. You can smoke, cuss, chew, and date women who do - and still be a "good ol' boy." You can spend time in jail and be a "good ol' boy", in fact I have visited some of them there. You can lie and even steal and still be dubbed this way by all of southern royalty.
It makes you wonder though- is there anything that can get you disqualified from being a "good ol' boy"? As far as I know there are only a few things: selling government secrets to a communist nation, cussing your momma, or failing to say the pledge of allegiance immediately come to mind. The list cannot be much longer.
But we all know what we mean when we say it. We are making a short generalized statement about an individual, usually endorsing them to some extent. It is not a technical term at all. Sort of like saying you are doing fine when you are not. It's better than spilling the whole pail of slop out before someone.
The truth of the matter is- no one is good. No one. No matter how much you like them or how sweet they are to their momma. They simply are not good. And it's not just that they do bad things, they are bad. Bad people, not good. And I am one of them. The bad news is, so are you.
Psalm 14 says it like this:
1The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God "
They are corrupt, they have committed abominable deeds;
There is no one who does good.
2The LORD has looked down from heaven upon the sons of men
To see if there are any who understand,
Who seek after God.
3They have all turned aside, together they have become corrupt;
There is no one who does good, not even one.
4Do all the workers of wickedness not know,
Who eat up my people as they eat bread,
And do not call upon the Lord?
5There they are in great dread,
For God is with the righteous generation.
6You would put to shame the counsel of the afflicted,
But the LORD is his refuge.
7Oh, that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion!
When the LORD restores His captive people,
Jacob will rejoice, Israel will be glad.
We do bad things because we are bad people. That's who we are and we are in desperate need of a righteous man, just ONE righteous man to be good on our behalf. God knew we would need this and so He sent his son - JESUS - to be that one good man for us. To do good in our place, to keep the commandments for us, to live righteously for us, to commit good acts for us, so that we could be counted as good - as righteous- as "good ol' boys."
You don't exactly have to be of the greatest moral character to have the term "Good O'l Boy" ascribed to you. You can be a good ol' boy and drink, you can even drink to excess. You can smoke, cuss, chew, and date women who do - and still be a "good ol' boy." You can spend time in jail and be a "good ol' boy", in fact I have visited some of them there. You can lie and even steal and still be dubbed this way by all of southern royalty.
It makes you wonder though- is there anything that can get you disqualified from being a "good ol' boy"? As far as I know there are only a few things: selling government secrets to a communist nation, cussing your momma, or failing to say the pledge of allegiance immediately come to mind. The list cannot be much longer.
But we all know what we mean when we say it. We are making a short generalized statement about an individual, usually endorsing them to some extent. It is not a technical term at all. Sort of like saying you are doing fine when you are not. It's better than spilling the whole pail of slop out before someone.
The truth of the matter is- no one is good. No one. No matter how much you like them or how sweet they are to their momma. They simply are not good. And it's not just that they do bad things, they are bad. Bad people, not good. And I am one of them. The bad news is, so are you.
Psalm 14 says it like this:
1The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God "
They are corrupt, they have committed abominable deeds;
There is no one who does good.
2The LORD has looked down from heaven upon the sons of men
To see if there are any who understand,
Who seek after God.
3They have all turned aside, together they have become corrupt;
There is no one who does good, not even one.
4Do all the workers of wickedness not know,
Who eat up my people as they eat bread,
And do not call upon the Lord?
5There they are in great dread,
For God is with the righteous generation.
6You would put to shame the counsel of the afflicted,
But the LORD is his refuge.
7Oh, that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion!
When the LORD restores His captive people,
Jacob will rejoice, Israel will be glad.
We do bad things because we are bad people. That's who we are and we are in desperate need of a righteous man, just ONE righteous man to be good on our behalf. God knew we would need this and so He sent his son - JESUS - to be that one good man for us. To do good in our place, to keep the commandments for us, to live righteously for us, to commit good acts for us, so that we could be counted as good - as righteous- as "good ol' boys."
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