#WISDOMSample

Who Gave You the Right to Be Here?

Have you ever found yourself in a place where you couldn’t believe you were there?

That happened to me one time when I got to hang out with a famous reality TV family at their house. No, it wasn’t the Kardashians. This family had longer beards and loved hunting ducks. It was the Robertson family from Duck Dynasty, and I had the rare opportunity of getting to spend the evening hanging out in their home.

Now, you’re probably wondering how I was able to get in.

Well, let me tell you, it wasn’t because I stalked them and snuck into their house while they weren’t looking. No, I was able to hang out with them because somebody they knew and trusted invited me. Believe it or not, this teaches us a great deal about the concept of righteousness that comes up often in Proverbs.

Righteousness is simply the state of doing what is required according to a standard. Another way we can understand it is that it’s being in right standing with something or someone. The problem with our righteousness in relation to God is that because of the way we have royally screwed up our lives, we could never do enough to earn our right standing back. We need an advocate to bring us back into the right standing of our relationship with God, just like I needed an advocate to get into the Robertsons' house.

Even though we certainty didn’t deserve it, the cool thing about God is that he chooses to be our advocate through Jesus. It’s our faith in Jesus that enables us to be in right standing with God.

When you read about righteousness today in the Proverbs, consider how Jesus works in your life to bring about the righteousness that God desires.

Trust me, what you’ll experience is something much cooler than getting to hang out with the Robertsons!