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In Christ, Mark
In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
“Suppose there is a righteous man who does what is just and
right.”
“He does not eat at the mountain shrines or look to the
idols of Israel. He does not defile his neighbor’s wife or have sexual
relations with a woman during her period. He does not oppress anyone, but
returns what he took in pledge for a loan. He does not commit robbery but gives
his food to the hungry and provides clothing for the naked. He does not lend to
them at interest or take a profit from them. He withholds his hand from doing
wrong and judges fairly between two parties. He follows my decrees and
faithfully keeps my laws.”
“That man is righteous; he will surely live, declares the
Sovereign Lord.”
Ezekiel 18:5-9
This ends today’s
reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
When you read the scriptures, you come to realize that there
are really only two categories we can be placed in when our lives are assessed
by the Lord.
We’re either righteous or we’re wicked. There is no middle
ground.
You see, if we are living in obedience to God’s word, will,
and way, then we will be living in a way that honors Him, a way that is
pleasing in His sight, a way that garners His blessing in favor.
However, if we choose to live outside of God’s word, will,
and way, living for the ways of the world or our own desires, then we live in
sin and in opposition to the Lord, a way that He despises, a way that will
always draw His consequences.
In today’s devotion, drawn from our continuing study of
Ezekiel 18, we find God giving us a glimpse of what righteousness looks like.
Of course, this is not all encompassing but it’s enough to make the point. Look
again at these verses:
“Suppose there is a
righteous man who does what is just and right.”
“He does not eat at
the mountain shrines or look to the idols of Israel. He does not defile his
neighbor’s wife or have sexual relations with a woman during her period. He
does not oppress anyone, but returns what he took in pledge for a loan. He does
not commit robbery but gives his food to the hungry and provides clothing for
the naked. He does not lend to them at interest or take a profit from them. He
withholds his hand from doing wrong and judges fairly between two parties. He
follows my decrees and faithfully keeps my laws.”
“That man is
righteous; he will surely live, declares the Sovereign Lord.” Ezekiel 18:5-9
First note two primary qualities of a righteous person:
1. They are just.
A righteous person is always fair and impartial in the way
they treat others. They can always be trusted because they ground themselves in
honesty and honorable behavior. And they make God their moral compass, the
reason their bearings always have them pointed in the right and righteous
direction.
2. They are right.
This means that when a righteous person does something, says
something, or thinks something, they are always doing it the right way. And
they do everything the right way because they allow God to dictate how they
act, speak, and think.
So we know righteousness in a person looks like the justice
and right living they commit in God’s sight. But God didn’t just stop with
that. He went on to give specific examples of what righteousness might look
like. They included:
1. Not eating at the
mountain shrines or look to the idols of Israel.
In other words, a righteous person keeps their worship
dedicated to the Lord and the Lord alone, shunning devotion to false gods and
idols.
2. Does not defile
his neighbor’s wife or have sexual relations with a woman during her period.
Part of being honest and true and righteous is being
faithful, faithful to God and faithful to His commands which included the
prohibition of adultery (Exodus 20:14) and sex with a woman during her
menstrual cycle (Leviticus 15:19).
3. Does not oppress
anyone, but returns what he took in pledge for a loan.
In biblical days, the debtors were often the very poor in
society. In exchange for a loan, they would often give up something of value to
them which the loaner retained as a pledge. God commanded that the debtors
should not be oppressed by the person who gave them the loan and that person
should even give back the pledge to the debtor at times when they needed it
(i.e. a cloak to keep warm at night or a millstone needed to prepare food). The
debtor was always required to give the pledge back to the loaner until the debt
was paid.
A righteous person complied with the tenets of this
agreement and the requirements set by God.
4. Does not commit
robbery but gives his food to the hungry and provides clothing for the naked.
Again going back to the Ten Commandments, we know God
commanded His people to do not commit robbery (Exodus 20:15) and so a righteous
person would remain obedient to that command. In fact, a righteous person would
not be taking away from another but rather giving to them, food for the hungry
and clothing for the naked. There’s little arguing that God expects His people
to be charitable, being good stewards of what He has provided.
5. Does not lend to
them at interest or take a profit from them.
Go back to the person loaning to another. Remember that
those who sought loans were the people who were the poorest. Just paying back
what they borrowed was a task in its own right and God did not wish for them to
be burdened even more by interest being charged or a profit sought (Leviticus
25:36-37). A righteous person is one who stays true to God’s wishes.
6. Withholds his hand
from doing wrong and judges fairly between two parties.
A person who is doing what is right in God’s sight cannot be
doing wrong at the same time. It’s impossible. And so if a person wants to be
righteous, then they stay completely and uncompromisingly loyal to all God
commands for them to do. Then and only then can someone hope to withhold their
hand from wrong.
And as we covered before, a righteous person is always just
and thus would fairly judge any litigation between two parties.
7. Follows my decrees
and faithfully keeps my laws.
There couldn’t be a better summary characteristic of someone
who exudes righteousness than these final words from God. For if a person fully
commits themselves to follow the Lord’s decrees and laws, doing so with
faithfulness, then they will do what is right in His sight and as the Lord
adds, will “surely live”.
With all this, how does your life measure up against these
standards? Would the Lord see your life as righteous? Do others see righteousness
when they look at the way you live?
These are all critical questions for us to consider as we
examine our lives and how well we are living within God’s expectations.
Amen
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
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