So many options! The reality of endless options faces most
of us as believers on a daily basis, and the satisfaction, success and joy that
we hope to experience is ultimately tied to the choices we make among the
options that are before us. We carry the world in our hands through WiFi
connectivity, instantly and constantly available to anyone, able to buy
anything or see anything or hear anything we want to at the touch of a finger. We
call it freedom of choice, but does it actually lead us to freedom?
Jesus, on the other hand, invites us to another choice, a
narrower way – the option to seek success and joy on His terms. In Matthew 5:6,
He uses the word “righteousness” to articulate the access point to
satisfaction, success and joy from His perspective, the perspective of God’s
Kingdom.
“Righteousness” is a difficult word, because it has come to
mean a restricted, religiously narrow, and (by implication) boring view of
life. For me, as a kid growing up in a religious home, “righteousness” simply
meant not doing bad things, avoiding most activities that seemed fun or
exciting, and it carried a connotation of restriction and boredom. Not a very
inviting concept!
But I believe “righteousness” has gotten a very unfortunate
and wrong reputation, because when we begin to examine the term from a Biblical
basis, our perception changes to one that makes the pursuit of righteousness
the most obvious and worthy pursuit imaginable. Let’s look at a couple of
things:
In Psalm 45, which is a prophetic passage fulfilled in the
person of Jesus, we’re told that the King, Jesus, loves righteousness and hates
wickedness, and is therefore anointed with the oil of gladness above all His
brothers. Get this: the love of righteousness is attached to the greatest
possible joy!
In Matthew 5:16, Jesus says that hungering and thirsting
after righteousness leads to ultimate satisfaction, the fulfillment of every
human desire! In other words, focusing the most basic of human needs – hunger and
thirst – on the pursuit of righteousness leads to complete satisfaction that
cannot be found anywhere else, even if we keep trying (just ask Mick Jagger and
the Rolling Stones about that!).
One of Jesus’ most notable followers, a guy names Paul who
wrote the Biblical letter to the Roman church, defined God’s Kingdom as “righteousness,
peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.” Once again, the highest human desires –
peace and joy – are associated with righteousness.
So, the question is, what is righteousness? Well, I believe
it is the reality of being conformed to the way God designed each of us in the
perfection of His plan. We’re told in Psalm 139 that each of us were “knit
together in our mother’s womb” by the hand of God, and that His work concerning
us is “marvelous”!
In other words, righteousness is much more than boring “good
behavior.” It is the degree to which we come into alignment with how we were
designed, agreeing with and pursuing God’s pattern for our lives which was
formed in His mind before He created anything! There is no other identity or
destiny for us than the one He has planned, and the choice to search for that
reality is the most important choice we can make in the vast array of options
that face us every day.
In order to know joy and peace, we must choose to make the
first things our first priority. We’re told in Psalm 25:14 and in Isaiah 45:3
that there are secret things hidden in the heart of God concerning us, and that
if we seek after Him, He will tell us the deepest truths about who we are and
why we exist. Jesus said in Luke 10:42 that only one thing is necessary, and
that is to sit at His feet and listen to what He says.
Jesus alone has words of life, and we will never find the fulfillment
of our desires if we put secondary things ahead of listening to Him. He will
speak to us about ourselves, our relationships, our purpose, our destiny, and
how we can come into agreement and alignment with His wondrous design for our
lives that is the only way to experience ultimate joy and peace.
The pursuit of righteousness through loving God and
listening to Him is the most important choice we can make, today, tomorrow, and
every day following. Go there, and be blessed!
Gary Wiens