Is not your wickedness great? Are not your sins endless? — [Eliphaz to Job] Job 22:5
[God] will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun. — Psalm 37:6
Here we have the search for sin and the promise of vindication. In the guise of religion, some are eager to search out every hidden sin. They call for repentance because they delight in exposing sin, and their world won’t work without a constant reminder of how very evil we are.
On the other hand, God is eager to reveal His work in us. As long as the evil one is free to stir up his lies in human hearts, we Christians will be lied about, slandered, misjudged, framed and misunderstood. But God will not allow this work of accusation to stand, because His work of redemption is greater.
I think righteousness is sort of like fingerprints. Yes, fingerprints look like fingerprints. But if you examine them closely, no two are alike. So also God’s righteousness gets expressed uniquely in each one of us. It’s all righteousness — it all looks alike. The standard doesn’t change, only the expression.
On display, for all the universe to see, is God’s great work inside us. This is our hope, and this is God’s promise.
Be encouraged!
Dwight
Dwight Clough is the author of four Christian books and is an active member of Lake City Church in Madison. This devotional is also available via email and you may review the archives back to 2002. To contact Dwight or Kim, use their contact form. You may also support their ministry.