God is Looking for Righteousness - Psalms 4-6 and Acts 17:16-34
Most people fail to understand what God is looking for in a person. They think that they can live their lives as they want and practice a religion, and God will be pleased with them. God is not looking for religious people. He is looking for righteous people. David realized this. He referred to God as the "God of my righteousness." David knew that his righteousness came from God. Only when a person trusts God for his or her salvation does God make that person righteous. A righteous person is one who lives in right relationship with God and with other people. The only way any of us can do this is by God's power, not our own. That is why practicing a religion is worthless. Religion is trying to do things ourselves to be right with God. Righteousness is not by works, but by faith. Once we trust God, He saves us from our sins, and He gives us the ability to live a righteous life before Him and others.
David also realized that God loves the righteous in a special way. God loves everyone, but he sets the righteous apart for himself. He wants to have a special relationship with them, because they have responded to His call to trust Him. Therefore, He listens to their prayers and answers them in His will. He delivers them from their enemies. He picks them up when they fall down. God has a special place in his heart for the righteous. That is not true of the unrighteous. They think they can act wickedly and do their own thing and still be blessed by God. They think they can practice religion, and God will hear them and bless them. They are wrong. If God blessed them in their unrighteousness, He would be encouraging them to continue in their unrighteousness. Instead, He wants them to turn to Him.
When Paul went to Athens, he found a lot of religious people. They had a shrine to every conceivable god, even the god they did not know. He used that shrine to tell them about the true God, but they did not want to hear. They were focused on religion and on hearing some new thing. They were not focused on righteousness. Therefore, very few were saved in Athens. What about you? Are you focused on being righteous before God or on doing righteous things while staying in you sinful lifestyle. Please, just turn yourself over to God completely. Let Him save you and give you His righteousness and the power to live it out each day. Then, you can walk with Him all the time, instead of just practicing religion.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Psalms 7-9 and Acts 18.
David also realized that God loves the righteous in a special way. God loves everyone, but he sets the righteous apart for himself. He wants to have a special relationship with them, because they have responded to His call to trust Him. Therefore, He listens to their prayers and answers them in His will. He delivers them from their enemies. He picks them up when they fall down. God has a special place in his heart for the righteous. That is not true of the unrighteous. They think they can act wickedly and do their own thing and still be blessed by God. They think they can practice religion, and God will hear them and bless them. They are wrong. If God blessed them in their unrighteousness, He would be encouraging them to continue in their unrighteousness. Instead, He wants them to turn to Him.
When Paul went to Athens, he found a lot of religious people. They had a shrine to every conceivable god, even the god they did not know. He used that shrine to tell them about the true God, but they did not want to hear. They were focused on religion and on hearing some new thing. They were not focused on righteousness. Therefore, very few were saved in Athens. What about you? Are you focused on being righteous before God or on doing righteous things while staying in you sinful lifestyle. Please, just turn yourself over to God completely. Let Him save you and give you His righteousness and the power to live it out each day. Then, you can walk with Him all the time, instead of just practicing religion.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Psalms 7-9 and Acts 18.