What does it mean, to “pursue righteousness” and how do we incorporate this into our daily lives? And how do we know what is righteous and what is not? To be righteous, means to act in an upright, virtuous and moral way. But who determines what is righteous? Our heavenly Father does and our Savior Christ Jesus is our example. There’s a commonly used well known saying these days; “What would Jesus do?”. But how often do we ponder this when faced with any situation that might require or even demand righteousness?
Oftentimes life can happen quickly. Sometimes it comes at us as fast as a speeding bullet leaving us little time to ponder, pray, consider our options. In our lifetimes we literally face thousands upon thousands of situations in which a decision must be made, and sometimes it’s whether or not we should take the high road or be a follower. But the bottom line is that while we may all be concerned with how others view us or what they think of us, what truly matters is what Yahweh and Christ think of us. How they view us. And if we are only concerned with this, doesn’t everything else fall into place? If what you do is favorable and pleasing to Father and Christ, does what everyone else think truly matter? If everyone around us is going down the wide path, would it not be better to break away from the pack and take the path Christ Jesus took?
Proverbs 21:21 “He who pursues righteousness and love finds life, prosperity and honor.”
The book of Proverbs is actually a wonderful tool in sharing with us some very key points in righteous versus unrighteous behavior. If you’re ever in doubt as to what is the right(eous) way and unsure of where to begin, I would highly recommend scouring Proverbs for the answer, but in actuality the entire Bible contains examples of righteous versus unrighteous behavior and can be used for teaching, learning and coming to know Father’s Way. (Interesting fact: The word Righteous appears a total of 554 times in the Holman Christian Standard Bible.) ursuing righteousness is also particularly important in these End Times and during a Tribulation which tests our abilities to remain faithful and act righteously because as Proverbs 21:21 relates, righteous behavior is the road that leads to life, prosperity and honor and it is Father's faithful who will be delivered in the Rapture and rescued to safety just as Noah and his family were delivered from the Great Flood.
Genesis 6:9 [ God Warns Noah ] These are the family records of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among his contemporaries; Noah walked with God.
Pursuing righteousness can also be called walking with God, because to walk with God is to walk in Her Ways. It takes faith, perseverance, endurance and a willingness of heart to learn and obey Father’s commands and to react accordingly in any given situation. This also ties in with the question of who to follow - those "others" - or God. Anytime that we choose to walk with God and follow in Christ's footsteps, we are choosing the right way and in doing so we are then counted as blameless among our contemporaries.
Deuteronomy 32:4 The Rock—His work is perfect; all His ways are entirely just. A faithful God, without prejudice, He is righteous and true.
While we are, none of us, perfect, pursuing righteousness can often seem to be an uphill climb on a winding twisting road rather than a leisurely stroll but it’s exercise for the heart that is good for us and when we walk with God, we can be certain that our ways are righteous as Father Herself is perfect, just, faithful, without prejudice and righteous and true. We can also rest easy in the knowledge that while we may be required to break away from the pack and leave unrighteous behavior behind, we will not walk alone, for Yahweh is always with us, leading us, guiding us, holding our hand and showing us the way - Her Way.