Contemplative Bible Reading

Romans 12:21 (New International Version)

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Something I have heard in the past few years is that I should not worry so much about removing bad things from my life. Instead, I should concentrate on putting good things into my life.

The theory is that good displaces bad.

I think this verse from Romans speaks of the same thing. Fill my life with good. Good will overcome or displace evil.

Have you ever worked with concrete? I recall a day in the mid-1980s. I was in Louisiana and watching a crew pour concrete for a new building. It had rained recently – I think that statement holds true for most days in Louisiana – and the hole in which the concrete was to go was full of muddy water.

I was wondering how in the world the crew would extract the muck from the hole before pouring concrete. The answer was simple – they wouldn’t. They poured the fresh, clean concrete into the mud-filled hole. The concrete sank to the bottom of the hole and the muck bubbled out of the hole.

The good concrete displaced the bad mud.

That is what good is like. Good displaces bad. Good – righteousness – displaces evil.