Day 15 - Wednesday

Day 15

 

"…the breastplate of righteousness in place," Ephesians 6:14 (NIV)

 

Paul is telling us that we can cover and protect our hearts with righteousness.  The word righteousness here implies "integrity, virtue, purity of life, rightness, correctness of thinking feeling, and acting."  When we have righteousness in our lives, it keeps us from getting into situations that will damage our hearts.

 

Unfortunately, most of us when we see that list realize that we cannot accomplish being "correct" in our thinking or feeling.  We know that we are not pure and sometimes our lives do not display the integrity that we would like.  Discouragement comes and knocks on the door and tells us that we'll never be good enough.  God wants us to be righteous, but we'll never get there.

 

Reality is that this is true.  We will never get there…on our own.  We are not pure…on our own.  We will never be correct in our thinking or feeling…on our own.  This is what Paul meant when he said in Romans:

 

"Since we've compiled this long and sorry record as sinners (both us and them) and proved that we are utterly incapable of living the glorious lives God wills for us, God did it for us. Out of sheer generosity he put us in right standing with himself. A pure gift. He got us out of the mess we're in and restored us to where he always wanted us to be. And he did it by means of Jesus Christ."  Romans 3:23-24 (TMSG)

 

Because we cannot do this on our own, God gave us Jesus to stand in our place, to do what we couldn't and provide for us a way that we could become righteous.  Righteousness is another way of saying "being in right (good) standing with God."

 

This breastplate we receive through our salvation in Christ.  It is given to us not because of anything we can do or anything we can give, but simply by receiving the gift of God.  This is grace, that what we were, broken and separated from God, is swallowed up in the love and sacrifice of Jesus on our behalf.  Now his righteousness has become ours.

 

Prayer:  "Thank you, God, for granting me the grace to be righteous through Christ.  Though I have nothing in myself to offer, I offer myself wholly to you.  In Jesus I pray, Amen."