“But about the Son he says, ‘Your throne, O God, will last forever and ever, and righteousness will be the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy.’”
Hebrews 1: 8-9
Jesus Christ loved righteousness, that’s why he lived a righteous life. You can neither be righteous nor pursue righteousness, if you don’t love it.
What are you pursuing today? Check your life, what are you pursuing at this moment? Are you pursuing the righteousness of God, or are you pursuing earthly material success?
Jesus said to us:
“So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”
~Matthew 16: 31-33
And also the bible says:
“Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; love and faithfulness go before you.”
~Psalm 89: 14
Apostle Paul writing to Timothy, said:
“Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call in the name of the Lord out of a pure heart.”
~2 Timothy 2: 22
Righteousness is the foundation of God’s throne, and the scepter of His kingdom. God wants you seek first His kingdom and pursue His righteousness. The bible says that when you seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness, all these things will be given to you as well.
What are these things?
They include what to wear, what to eat, and what to drink. These are the things that the people of the world pursue. They shouldn’t be what you pursue. These things ought to pursue you.I want you to know that when you stop pursuing God and His righteousness, and start pursuing money, you have lost your dominion. You have lost your place in God; you’re not walking where you‘re supposed to be walking. You now pursue the things that are supposed to pursue you.
Why is it that when you want to invite Christians for a program, you have to make them a certain promise? It is usually marital breakthrough, financial breakthrough, or something along that line. Recently I saw a bill board that advertised a Christian program tagged “War against Marital Delays”. You watch Christians rush to such programs because that’s their goal; that’s what they’re pursuing. But advertise a program and tag it “War Against Unrighteousness”, they will turn their faces to the other side, like they didn’t see it. Launch programs with themes like “War Against Sin”, “Holiness Unto God”, and I can assure that nobody’s going to come for those programs.
This tells you what is wrong with the church today. But you must love righteousness, because if you don’t love it, you won’t pursue it for long. There’s a teaching that is coming in the last days – in fact that teaching is already prevalent in churches today: Apostle Paul warns us that in the last days, people are going to start teaching all kinds of things. They will tell you that godliness is a means to financial gain.
“If anyone teaches false doctrines and does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching…men of corrupt mind who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain.”
~ 1Timothy 6: 3-5
With this teaching and its variants holding sway in a lot of pulpits, it is no surprise that Christians now pursue what should pursue them. Until righteousness ceases to be a means to an end in your life, you will not genuinely pursue it.
Memory Verse:
Matthew 16: 31-33
“So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”Prayer:
Heavenly Father, please help me to genuinely seek Your kingdom first and its righteousness. Thank you that you already know my needs and will meet them, in Jesus’ mighty name.
Amen.