FOUNDATION FOR FLOURISHING

“The RIGHTEOUS shall FLOURISH like the palm tree, He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon”– Psalm 92:12

RIGHTEOUSNESS is the FOUNDATION for FLOURISHING! There are diverse benefits and blessings to being a righteous person. After all, righteousness in Christ is free but not cheap! It took the Blood of the Son of God for righteousness to be purchased for humankind, so that those who believe could be redeemed. You have to repent and turn from sin, believe in the finished work of redemption, and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. And then in God's strength you choose to live a life that pleases Him. The Bible reveals several benefits of being righteous. Here are five of the many rewards of righteousness:

The righteous are spiritually alive: A tree is a living thing. As a righteous person, you are alive – not just physically, but spiritually alive in a healthy relationship with God and His people. God is the source of your life: “even when we were dead in trespasses, made us ALIVE together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)” (Eph. 2:5).  You have spiritual life – the Life of God in you!

The righteous are God’s Beloved: As a righteous person, you are accepted by God and attracted to Him. He not only made you alive, He also brought you into a close relationship with Himself. He brought you from afar and transplanted you in His house, as His beloved – His intimate child and friend. God “has made us accepted in the Beloved” (Eph.1:6b).  Only the one with clean hands and a pure heart can be allowed in the presence of the Lord (Psa. 24: 3-5). Paul assured the Gentiles: “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been made near by the blood of Christ” (Eph.2:13). And in Colossians 1:13 he said that God “has delivered us from the power of darkness and translated us into the kingdom of the Son of His love.” So God has brought you near to him, spiritually. He has planted you in the courts of His house.

The righteous are in a place of provision: The righteous is rightly placed by God where he cannot lack. His word says you will not beg for bread. A life of righteousness will ensure that God meets “all your needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (Phil.4:19).

The righteous are in a place of protection: If you belong to God in Christ, His eye is always upon you. His love surrounds you. You are safe from those who would want to hurt you. They can do you no ultimate harm. The Lord Jesus assures His people: “And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand” (Jh.10:28-29). As a righteous person the Bible says no weapon that is formed or fashioned against you shall prosper (Isa. 54: 17).

The righteous are in a place of honour: As a righteous person, you have been made one with God through Jesus Christ. You have been adopted into God’s family. You have a place of great honour as a tree planted in the courts of the LORD. You have become the apple of God’s eye, His anointed, and you cannot be treated anyhow or touched wrongly by anyone. You carry God’s insignia, “Saying, Touch not My anointed…” (Psa. 105:15a). “You are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvellous light” (1Pet.2:9a).

It is worthwhile to be righteous! When you are alive spiritually, you shall be fresh and green spiritually, mentally and physically. You will thrive like a healthy tree planted in the courts of God's house. You will flourish no matter your age. Throughout your life, you will stay “fresh and flourishing, to declare that the LORD is upright; He is My Rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him” (Psa.92:15).