things that are right by him

Devotions from Jefferson Vann # 2425

John 8:25-29

Joh 8:25 This is why they said to him, “Who are you?” Jesus told them “That one I’ve been telling you about from the very beginning.”
Joh 8:26 “I have many things to say and to decide about you, but my sender is true, and what I have heard from him– these things I am saying to the world.”
Joh 8:27 They did not know he was speaking to them about the Father.
Joh 8:28 That was why Jesus said, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and that I am doing nothing on my own. But I say these things just as the Father taught me.
Joh 8:29 My sender is with me. He has not left me alone, because I am always doing things that are right by him.”

things that are right by him

When I tried an internet search for ἀρεστός, it sent me in the wrong direction, because the word has taken on a different meaning in modern Greek. From its New Testament usage, it seems to have had the connotation of something that is proper and virtuous, of excellent moral character. That is what Jesus is talking about. He describes his activities as “things that are right by” his sender. That is what we all should be striving to do.

LORD, give us the moral courage to do things that are right by you.