Day 1: Do you have the right stuff on the inside?
Matthew 5:20
”For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.”
When Jesus told people they had to be more righteous than the Pharisees and teachers of the law, many may have thought that’s impossible. Did Jesus really think the average Joe could be more righteous than the most righteous of the day? The Pharisees and teachers of the law looked holy, acted holy and may have worn holy cologne while doing holy things. How can you be more righteous than those guys?
Sometimes in church life we can feel like we are not very righteous as compared to others. You run into the guy at the coffee hub that read the entire bible in two weeks and you’re still in Genesis Chapter 1. You have a lady in your bible study who remembered the entire book of Deuteronomy and you’re still trying to master the 23rd Psalm. And don’t mention that perfect family with the perfect kids, as you try to round up your dysfunctional son/daughter of Satan and your shared offspring.
What we need to know is Jesus wasn’t doing a comparison, he was doing a contrast. Jesus knew – the Pharisees taught a superficial, external righteousness based on the law. The Pharisees’ main concern was appearance and behavior. They had all the right outside stuff such as tithing, fasting, and presenting themselves in holy robes, however, they neglected the right inside stuff—character.
Proverbs 4:23
“Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.”
Action: Pray for a fellow (non-pastor) believer you have never prayed for before.