God Made It Good
Big ideaMatter is not evil and grace is not a diet: the God who "made the strawberry sweet" made the taste buds too, so the ascetic "touch not, taste not" creed is not extra-holy — it's a Gnostic counterfeit that adds rules to Christ's finished work.
Uh — hold up, hold up…
Miss Prim in the back with the pinched-up face,
lemme school you on a little thing called grace.
(Sha-la-la!)
There's a frown patrol with a clipboard and a rule,
thinkin' every ounce of fun is a trick of the fool.
Say the cake is a sin and the dancin' is worse,
got a wag in the finger and a chip and a curse.
Renounce and renounce 'til you're holy and gaunt —
competitive misery, flauntin' what they DON'T.
But the God up above with the sun and the rain
made the strawberry sweet, and He ain't gonna complain!
“Touch not! Taste not! Handle not the good!”
Frownin' at the flavor like a killjoy should —
but baby, read your Bible, get it understood…
Oh, God made it good, good, good!
He made the taste buds — of course He would!
Coffee in the mornin', honey on the bread,
wine to make you merry like the good Book said.
So take your touch-not, taste-not, frownin' in the pew —
God made it good, and He made it for YOU!
(Sha-la-la — for you!)
Now they called my Jesus a glutton and a wino
'cause He sat with the sinners and He poured the good vino,
turned the water to wine at the wedding in Cana —
a hundred fifty gallons, now that's a Savior, mama!
(That's a lot!) Coulda made it grape juice, weak and thin,
but He brought the good stuff, let the joy begin.
Ecclesiastes say it — eat your bread with cheer,
drink your wine with a merry heart, the Lord is near!
Oh, God made it good, good, good! (so good!)
He made the taste buds — yes, He would!
Coffee in the mornin', honey on the bread,
wine to make you merry like the good Book said.
So take your touch-not, taste-not, frownin' in the pew —
God made it good, and He made it for YOU!
(Sha-la-la — for you!)
See the touch-not creed got an appearance of wise (ooh),
but it's Gnostic in a Sunday-mornin' disguise.
Matter ain't evil and the body ain't bad —
it's the best good gift that a person ever had!
Colossians called it “wisdom,” so-called, on the shelf,
but it can't kill a sin — it just puffs up the self.
So quit addin' rules to the finished, finished work —
grace ain't a diet, and the joy ain't a quirk!
Oh, God made it good, good, good! (so good!)
He made the taste buds — yes, He would!
Coffee in the mornin', honey on the bread,
wine to make you merry like the good Book said.
So take your touch-not, taste-not, frownin' in the pew —
God made it good, and He made it for YOU!
(Good, good, good — for you!)
So put down the clipboard, Miss Prim, take a seat,
have a slice, crack a smile, come on tap your feet.
God made it good — now go and finish your plate!
(Good, good, good — it's a common grace!)
Scripture References
- 1 Timothy 4:1-5
- Colossians 2:20-23
- Ecclesiastes 9:7
- John 2:1-11
Study this song
Teaching aids drawn from the song — for personal study or group discussion.
How the song moves
Key terms & allusions
- "Touch not, taste not, handle not" — The ascetic slogan of Colossians 2:21 — Paul quotes these man-made food-and-body prohibitions not to endorse them but to expose them as powerless against sin, which is exactly how the song deploys the line.
- asceticism / the "frown patrol" — The impulse to earn holiness by self-denial and renouncing pleasures; 1 Timothy 4:3 names it directly as "forbidding to marry" and "commanding to abstain from foods" that God created to be received with thanksgiving.
- Gnosticism — The ancient heresy (a "Sunday-mornin' disguise" here) that treats spirit as pure and physical matter as evil — the song's rebuttal, "matter ain't evil and the body ain't bad," is the Christian counter-claim that God called His material creation good.
- the wedding at Cana — Jesus' first sign (John 2:1–11), where He turned roughly 120–180 gallons of water — the song's "hundred fifty gallons" — into fine wine, not "grape juice, weak and thin," making abundance and joy His opening miracle.
- "a glutton and a wino" / "eat your bread… with a merry heart" — The first echoes the slur thrown at Jesus in Matthew 11:19 / Luke 7:34 ("a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of… sinners"); the second near-quotes Ecclesiastes 9:7, where "the Preacher" (Qoheleth) commands enjoyment of food and wine as God's approved gift.
Discussion questions
- Where does your church culture quietly reward "competitive misery" — treating what someone abstains from as proof of holiness — and how would 1 Timothy 4:4–5 reframe those unspoken scorecards?
- The bridge calls the touch-not creed "Gnostic in a Sunday-mornin' disguise." What present-day rules or attitudes in our community treat the body and physical pleasure as spiritually suspect, and why is that a counterfeit rather than extra devotion?
- Read Colossians 2:20–23 together: Paul says these rules have "an appearance of wisdom" but no power to restrain sin. Why is adding rules to "the finished work" so appealing to us, and what does genuine grace-formed self-control look like instead?
For contemplation
- Is there a good gift — food, drink, rest, beauty, laughter — that you deny yourself and secretly count as righteousness? What would it mean to receive it instead "with thanksgiving" (1 Timothy 4:4)?
- When you picture Jesus, is He nearer to the frowning clipboard or to the host who poured out 150 gallons of good wine at Cana? Where did that picture come from, and is it true?
- Ecclesiastes 9:7 tells you to eat your bread and drink your wine with a merry heart because God has already approved your work. Where are you still trying to earn what Christ has already finished?