The fact is stated here, that He who follows these 2 things, righteousness and mercy....will find 3 things. To follow, is to pursue, to chase, to be behind, to run after, and to attend closely upon. And, can mean to aim eagerly to secure.
In other words, we can aim diligently today, to run after 2 things, ( and the result will be, we will find 3 things in our lives )
To pursue righteousness, is to pursue what is right and just. To follow after what is ethically right. And, of course to pursue mercy, is to follow after kindness, and goodness.
If we are following righteousness and mercy, then we are promised to find, life, righteousness and honor. We will find ourselves with spiritual prosperity, going in the right way, and enjoying honor.
God has built into our lives certain laws, that we may not be able to explain, or even understand, ( like gravity, electricity etc, ) but we experience them everyday. They work.
So do these laws of life.
Lord, Today, would You help us to pursue these things in our lives, and we want to thank You in advance for what You will bring into our lives.
Thank You for giving us the best way to live down here, while we wait for you to come from heaven. We love You. In Jesus name, amen.
Pastor Bob Grenier
Calvary Chapel Visalia
P.S........a few applicational thoughts.
Deciding what to do, is up to us.
Believing in God, and His Word is possible through faith.
God never lies, and He blesses those who follow His Word.
Let's forget what's behind, and look unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith.
If we pursue God's ways, we will find God's ways more and more in our lives.
FINALLY...........
Jesus is all of the things listed above.........He is Righteousness, He is mercy.........so, to follow Jesus is to follow those things............
Following God's righteousness and mercy...In otherwords doing what is right and showing kindness and goodness to others, that is what mercy means...Kindness...a lost virtue in todays society...everyone seems so uptight and angry, yet as Christians we should be the kindest people in all of the world because we have received God's great mercy and kindness. I'll never forget what a southern pastor told me a long time ago. He said, "I am especially kind to my waitress or the store clerk, or whoever I come in contact with, because if they do not know Jesus and they leave this world, my kindness may be the only one they will ever know. I need to remember that more often...Titus 3:4-5 "But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us"...Lord help us to be like you.
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