Do you consider yourself righteous?
Do you consider yourself righteous?Click For Audio Version
Perhaps, you would say that compared to others, you are more righteous than some.
Perhaps, you look upon your neighbor and sigh, thinking of all his sins, to help you justify your own.
Maybe you shrug your shoulders and say that no one is righteous.
In that, you are right. No one is righteous on their own.
It took Jesus to die for our sins and to give us His righteousness, so that we can become righteous.
Read that last line again. It took Jesus dying for our sins to make us righteous!
For many, many years before Jesus…and for those who have not accepted His gift of Salvation to us today…people struggled with their stubborn nature and sin.
In Psalm 32, David tells us that God says He will instruct us and teach us in the way we should go.
God promises that when we seek Him, He will guide us with His eye. He teaches us and is watching over us.
I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
I will guide you with My eye.
9 Do not be like the horse or like the mule,
Which have no understanding,
Which must be harnessed with bit and bridle,
Else they will not come near you.
The warning, however, is that we should not be like a horse or mule who needs a harness, bit, and bridle to be brought close to the one with the knowledge of which way to go. Indeed, there are many sorrows today as well for the wicked who stay away from God. They think they know far better than God, their Creator, what is best for them. They want the temporary pleasure of the moment and will live forever with the sorrow of their sinful choices.
Physical sickness, drug addiction, prison terms, broken marriages, out-of-wedlock children or worse, abortions, fill their lives.
BUT, there is STILL HOPE!!!! Read on:
10 Many sorrows shall be to the wicked;
But he who trusts in the Lord, mercy shall surround him.
11 Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, you righteous;
And shout for joy, all you upright in heart! Psalms 32:8-11 NKJV
We who trust in the Lord have the mercy of God surrounding us. Therefore, there is joy and gladness and much cause for rejoicing when we choose to obey and follow God. His mercy surrounds us and what we do.
We have reason to rejoice if we are His, the righteous.
David tells us to shout for joy when we are upright in heart. We might face many difficulties as David did in his life. Much fear, war, and struggle filled David’s years.
Yet, when he was following God and gave his whole heart to God, there was always reason to rejoice.
How much more do we, in this age after Christ has come, have reason to rejoice?
Jesus fulfilled countless Biblical prophesies, lived to teach us God’s way of love, and died for our sins to give us eternal life with Him.
We have proof that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, by His Resurrection from the dead, that assures us our resurrection and the gift of joy that never ends.
If….we believe that Jesus is the Christ,
tell of our belief in Him to God,
confess our sins,
and follow and obey Him all the days of our lives.
It is never too late to turn to Christ. He will take us no matter the past from which we have come or the sins which we have committed before.
Simply believe, confess, decide to follow Him and obey.
He WILL POUR JOY into your remaining days.
He will turn your sorrow into eternal joy, because you are now HIS, … YOU RIGHTEOUS!!