| Topic: |
Religions > Bible |
| User: |
"bear163" |
| Date: |
26 Jan 2004 11:45:46 PM |
| Object: |
True righteousness does not restrict |
Devotional Guide
For the week of January 25, 2004
JESUS, THE MAN FROM HEAVEN
True righteousness does not restrict
To Read: 1 Corinthians 13-15
To Know:
"For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and
Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." (Matt. 5:20)
Was anyone ever more righteous than the scribes and Pharisees? Did anyone
ever want to be? They were ruthlessly righteous. Hardly any want to put
themselves through the legalistic lemon squeezer that squeezed the joy out
of the scribes' and Pharisees' lives.
What is wrong with Pharisaical righteousness? What was this righteousness
anyway? It was a pretense to comply with God's law. The Lord ordered all
work stopped on the Sabbath. To appear to be obedient, the Pharisees
redefined work. Work, they said, was lifting the weight of more than two
dried figs. This way they opened the door to working on the day of rest
while pretending to conform to God's law.
When Jesus said that one needed to exceed the righteousness of the Pharisees
in order to enter his kingdom, did he mean reducing the weight we could lift
to one dried fig? Or did Jesus mean that true righteousness must be a matter
of the heart? Is true righteousness the weight we lift or the will we
embrace? The righteousness of Christ does not restrict us; it redirects us.
Righteousness is to love what God loves and live the way Jesus lived.
To Do:
The author of Hebrews wrote the verse that best explains authentic
righteousness: "Sacrifices and offerings thou hast not desired, but a body
thou hast prepared for me; in burnt offerings and sin offerings thou hast
taken no pleasure. Then I said, 'Lo, I have come to do thy will, O God.'"
(Heb. 10:5-7)
To Ask:
Father, give me a will to want your will.
01274$-01274
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