7 times 7 - Practicing Righteousness

Psalm 106:3 "How blessed are those who keep justice, who practice righteousness at all times!"

Wow - this is basically the same as Jesus telling us in Matthew 5:48 "Be perfect, as your Father in heaven is perfect."

Practicing righteousness at all times is impossible for us and yet completely necessary. We have to "practice" righteousness. We aren't actually good at it at all. Paul quotes the Psalms in Romans 3 saying "There is none righteous, not even one; there is none who understands, there is none who seeks God."

We humans, in our own power, would avoid God altogether and live out our lives as we saw fit, in our pride and carnal lusts and desires. On the first day, we discussed how this Psalm reviews the way the Israelites lived in a perpetual state of rejecting God and then begging for His salvation when He gave them over to their desires. Paul describes the same sort of situation in Romans 1, when he writes "God gave them over in the lists of their hearts to impurity". After all, this is the truest definition of hell - complete and eternal separation from God. At the end of Revelation, John describes the new Jerusalem, where God Himself will eternally dwell with His people. But anyone outside the salvation of Christ will be eternally separated and in hell.

I'm not trying to be a downer, but this reality is something we tend to forget. We drift towards mediocrity and think that our good enough living is okay. We think that if we are better than the next guy, or at least not worse, than God should be pretty happy with us and we are okay. Even as believers, we rest on the laurels of giving our lives to Christ and then spend most of our days in the comfort of our routines. We don't examine too closely or question too deeply. Just don't rock the boat and it is smooth sailing.

Except for the fact that our fallen nature would never pursue God and His righteousness. We would always choose self interest over justice, left to our own natures. That is why we have to practice righteousness. Not just commit random good acts when we think of it. The Hebrew word gives an image of ongoing action that is continuously done - to do something thoroughly - to accomplish completely.

Paul writes to the Galatians (5:16) "But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh." Just a few verses before he says "For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not let your freedom turn into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another."

These verses give great insight into how we can practice righteousness. If we walk by the Spirit, following the direction of the Lord and living in dependence of His will, than the freedom we have in salvation will lead us to love and serve one another more than we ever could outside of the Holy Spirit. In my own flesh, I am a slave to my pride and my selfishness. But in the freedom of the Spirit, I can love those around me and pursue justice and goodness and peace and all the other fruit of the Spirit.

This idea of practicing righteousness helps us to remember that if we drift into "auto-pilot" mode, we will walk in our own flesh. But if we live in dependence on the Spirit, we will intentionally choose those things that are pleasing to God. We do not bear the weight of perfection. Jesus bore that weight and paid the price of our sin in His death and resurrection. But in my freedom, I can joyfully follow the unobtainable, each day closer to walking the streets of heaven with my Father.

Pray that the Lord would help you practice each day to walk more aligned to His character, through the power of His Spirit, and you will find yourself pursuing justice, practicing righteousness and being downright joyful about it! That is why the one who does these things is called blessed!

How blessed are those who keep justice, who practice righteousness at all times!