September 25

Our God is righteous. We say those words. We believe them. But do we have any idea at all of what they really mean? God is holy. First of all, what is, who is, God? From ancient times, mankind has been endeavoring to find, to fashion, to serve someone beyond himself. Ancient man found his gods in the sun, in the moon, in nature. It was the Israelites alone who were found by the one true God.

The One who found them was far beyond the whimsical, war-like, demanding deities of the pagan world. He did not require their substance. He did not demean their character by sexual orgies in temples of debauchery. He did not require their children as sacrifices to Himself.

Because He is Himself holy—that word depicting honor and uprightness and integrity that is far beyond the human mind’s ability to understand—He requires righteousness of us. But He understands our frame. He knows our limitations, so He supplied our righteousness, our holiness, through Christ—the God-Man—who reveals God to us. When Jesus walked among men, He demonstrated God’s perfection. He showed us what we are to be.

As far back as Hosea 10:12, we are told we must, “Sow for yourselves righteousness and reap according to mercy and loving-kindness. Break up your fallow ground for it is time to seek the Lord…until He touches you with righteousness—His righteous gift of salvation.” As we break up the uncultivated plot of righteousness in our lives, He plants His character in us that we might reap His holiness, that we might be righteous--as He is.