Tag: Righteousness

Morning Musings: Ezekiel 11:5

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“And the Spirit of the Lord fell upon me, and he said to me, ‘Say, Thus says the Lord: So you think, O house of Israel.  For I know the things that come into your mind.'”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

Ezekiel is announcing some pretty grim judgment here, but I just want to give a bit of attention to the end of this verse.  “For I know the things that come into your mind.”  You probably already knew or guessed this about God, but here it is explicitly stated.  God knows what’s going on inside your mind. Read the rest…

Morning Musings: Psalms 119:136

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“My eyes shed streams of tears, because people do not keep your law.”  (ESV)

How do you feel about God’s commands?  Here in v. 136 of Psalm 119, the psalmist has poured hundreds of words into his proclamation of his love for and devotion to God’s law.  Here he lands on an idea that is worth considering for a moment.  Again: How do you feel about God’s law? Read the rest…

Morning Musings: Jeremiah 22:3

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“Thus says the Lord: Do justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed.  And do no wrong or violence to the resident alien, the fatherless, and the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place.”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

Over and over again in the prophets we see that God’s chief concern for the people was not that they got religion right, but that they got justice right.  He complained about their offerings and sacrifices not because they weren’t done strictly according to the guidelines set out in the law, but because they pursued them without the accompanying set of behaviors (namely, a generous pursuit of justice for the least, last, and lost in their midst). Read the rest…

Morning Musings: Colossians 3:5

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“Put to death therefore what is earthly in you; sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

This is tough language here.  Paul seems to soften a bit a couple of verses later, but that’s just an appearance.  This is what Paul really means.  When it comes to the fruits of sin in our lives–and they are manifold well beyond the list Paul offers here–it is not enough to put them aside or turn our backs to them or knock them off their perch or anything else like that.  We must actively put them to death.  We must kill them completely and not allow for even the slightest chance that they will get up again. Read the rest…

Morning Musings: Isaiah 1:16-17

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“Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause.”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

This is a powerful call to righteousness and justice in its own right, but its context makes it even more powerful.  Take a minute to read again what comes just before this.  God essentially tells the people to stop worshiping Him.  Well, not exactly that, but close enough as far as they were concerned.

For the people of Israel, the worship of God was found in the rituals.  Having rituals be a part of our worship isn’t a bad thing.  In fact, where those rituals help focus our hearts and minds on the God to whom we are directing our attention they can be a very good thing.  But, it is easy to begin thinking that the rituals are valuable in and of themselves.  As a point of fact, they’re not. Read the rest…