OF SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINES (IV)
“But I warn you—unless your righteousness is better than the righteousness of the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven!“
If you are a reader of scripture, you know that the righteousness of the pharisees is no small thing, not many were able to achieve it as it was yet Jesus boldly declares that there is an even greater righteousness available to contend for.
As we have been learning, the practice of spiritual disciplines simply position our hearts to receive the gift of righteousness that works the works of God in us that we may manifest them outwardly. The error in the righteousness of the pharisees was that it focused on the outward, leaving the inside to rot. The triumph in the righteousness we receive as a gift from yielding to our Lord and Savior, Christ, is that it focuses inward and bears fruit outward.
Child of God, the very master teachers of this simple truth missed it in its simplicity because they treated as achievable by mere human efforts what only God could do. They derailed many by tying unattainable rules and standards around their necks when they themselves were dead on the inside ().
Always remember then, that the disciplines are there to position us and tame carnality, but it is grace that aligns the heart to God’s agenda. As he continues to mold us after himself, we don’t just have to do good, we want to do good. It becomes harder to do anything other than good, be kind, be gentle, loving, patient… etc.
Lord, help us!
Prayer: Father I thank you for this truth. The mystery of God living in us is one that our minds can’t fully grasp yet you have set a precedent in Christ that enables our hearts to apply itself to it. It is to this end that I yield willfully, in obedience and submission that I may obtain this eternal prize, in Jesus’ name. Amen!
CI.
