Monday September 14, 2020

Today’s Reading: Psalm 53

Oh, that Israel’s deliverance would come from Zion! When God restores His captive people, Jacob will rejoice; Israel will be glad.

Psalm 53:6

Reflection: We are all in need of God’s Righteousness. King David sees God surveying the entire landscape of humanity, only to find no good human upon the earth. Notice that absolutely no one on earth is called ‘good’ on their own. This is because while many may do good deeds, all of us are inclined to do bad. We fail to be righteous, and struggle when we try to live lives that are good. Doing the best we can always falls short of actually being righteous. Because we are imperfect, because we are sinful, we can never be good on our own. But thank God that He gives us His own Righteousness through Jesus, Who spent His own life to pay for the sins of the world. By Jesus’ Work on the Cross, we are relieved of the debt of sin. By His Work on the Cross, Jesus not only takes away our sin, but also gives us His own Righteousness. This means that through Jesus, we can also be Righteous.

God offers all people His Righteousness through Jesus. Because of Jesus, we have the choice to be delivered from sin and death. There are people who will deny God and refuse His Righteousness. God will confirm their choice by rejecting them and allowing them to receive punishment for their sins. But for those who seek God’s righteousness, they are delivered from the bonds of sin and are set free to rejoice in Him. They are delivered and restored by God. How do we choose to respond to the offer of God’s Righteousness?

Prayer: Loving Father, thank You for Your Son Jesus Christ. Thank You for taking away my sin through His Work on the Cross. Thank You for freely giving to me Your Righteousness that I do not deserve. I pray that You continue to restore me Lord. Please remove all of the sin that keeps me from living a life free to rejoice more completely in You. I pray all of these things in Jesus’ Name, AMEN.

Thru the Bible in a year (credit: Biblestudytools.com): Acts 28:17-31; 1 Samuel 6-7; Psalm 53