Day 32

Day 32

Matthew 5:19-20 "Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.”

The natural tendency of men is to look for new revelation and wisdom; new understanding that will either justify our own theories or make them look wise in the eyes of others. Jesus is making the point here to His disciples that they are no better than those they would possibly judge. You see, since Jesus says He came to fulfill the law, the natural response would be that we would have no more need of the law. Then it becomes a club, only those who believe in Jesus are right, and everyone else is wrong. But remember, the law is not fulfilled until Jesus is sacrificed, and even then He is fulfilling the law, not abandoning it. Jesus prevents this exclusiveness by saying that the righteousness of those who believe the law is the minimum standard for heavenly membership. Therefore, to judge the Jewish leaders and nonbelievers for obeying the law or the commandments was not acceptable. What was acceptable was to use their desire and passion for what is right for the good by exposing them to the truth. This pattern remains to be one we can use today for our Jewish and Gentile brothers and sisters. Yes, ultimately, the choice to believe or not is theirs. However, if we truly love the Lord, we can do our part by loving and respecting them for their faithfulness.

How do we as believers in Christ have or exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you ask? Second Corinthians 5:21 says, “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” The answer is this: Jesus is our righteousness. If we believe in Him and have fellowship with Him, He provides the righteous covering for us–He is our atonement. We as humans are incapable of living a life without sin; therefore, He did it for us. Now that is love!

In addition, Jesus makes the point that those who keep and teach these principles will be rewarded in Heaven, something we would all do well to desire. You may say, “But I am not a teacher, I have no formal education.” If you own a bible and are reading this devotional, you have tools at your disposal that qualify you to teach. We teach not just in a classroom or in a Church, we teach in our daily walk, by our actions, by the words that proceed out of our mouth. When we become believers and the change in us is manifested by our actions and lifestyle, we are inadvertently teaching. May the lessons we teach be worthy to be taught, a reflection of the righteousness of Christ in us.

Daily Prayer: Father, I pray that my actions would always reflect you in a positive light. May I never cause anyone to turn away from knowing You. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

“Being a reflection of Christ is never a negative image.”

Gene Burroughs, Servant