Righteousness

^{Ezekiel 4:
4}"As for your birth, on the day you were born your navel cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water for cleansing; you were not rubbed with salt or even wrapped in cloths. ⁵"No eye looked with pity on you to do any of these things for you, to have compassion on you. Rather you were thrown out into the open field, for you were abhorred on the day you were born. ⁶"When I passed by you and saw you squirming in your blood, I said to you while you were in your blood, 'Live!' Yes, I said to you while you were in your blood, 'Live!' ⁷"I made you numerous like plants of the field. Then you grew up, became tall and reached the age for fine ornaments; your breasts were formed and your hair had grown. Yet you were naked and bare. ⁸"Then I passed by you and saw you, and behold, you were at the time for love; so I spread My skirt over you and covered your nakedness I also swore to you and entered into a covenant with you so that you became Mine," declares the Lord GOD. ⁹"Then I bathed you with water, washed off your blood from you and anointed you with oil. ¹⁰"I also clothed you with embroidered cloth and put sandals of porpoise skin on your feet; and I wrapped you with fine linen and covered you with silk. ¹¹"I adorned you with ornaments, put bracelets on your hands and a necklace around your neck. ¹²"I also put a ring in your nostril, earrings in your ears and a beautiful crown on your head. ¹³"Thus you were adorned with gold and silver, and your dress was of fine linen, silk and embroidered cloth You ate fine flour, honey and oil; so you were exceedingly beautiful and advanced to royalty. ¹⁴"Then your fame went forth among the nations on account of your beauty, for it was perfect because of My splendor which I bestowed on you," declares the Lord GOD. ¹⁵"But you trusted in your beauty and played the harlot because of your fame, and you poured out your harlotries on every passer-by who might be willing.

³⁸"Thus I will judge you like women who commit adultery or shed blood are judged; and I will bring on you the blood of wrath and jealous.

⁶⁰"Nevertheless, I will remember My covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish an everlasting covenant with you. ⁶²"Thus I will establish My covenant with you, and you shall know that I am the LORD, ⁶³so that you may remember and be ashamed and never open your mouth anymore because of your humiliation, when I have forgiven you for all that you have done," the Lord GOD declares.

This scripture was pressed upon my heart today as I was reading. Its talking about Israel and how after all that the Lord had done for her, she forgot who brought her out of the dust and out of her nakedness. She thought that giving herself away to worldly things would somehow give her value, would somehow make her special. What she failed to realize is that it is the Lord who gave her meaning and life! He is the one who gave her beauty. He is the one who clothed her and restored her.

We are like Israel. We squander our gifts, our beauty, in hopes for value, prestige, and approval. We, like Israel, were sentenced to judgment, because of our sin and because we make shrines to ourselves in hopes that we are glorified. We try to take the recognition of for ourselves. Our pride becomes greater and greater. And we become greater and greater in our own eyes.

But there is HOPE.

Thanks be to God, who through Jesus Christ reconciled us to Himself!

²²"Therefore say to the house of Israel, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for My holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you went.

²⁵"Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. ²⁶"Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. ²⁷"I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances. ²⁸"You will live in the land that I gave to your forefathers; so you will be My people, and I will be your God. ²⁹"Moreover, I will save you from all your uncleanness; and I will call for the grain and multiply it, and I will not bring a famine on you. ³⁰"I will multiply the fruit of the tree and the produce of the field, so that you will not receive again the disgrace of famine among the nations.

Look to the righteousness that He has given us, instead to the shame and guilt we try to carry as a result of our sin. He has freed us! HE WILL rescue us, HAS ALREADY rescued us. We are His, in His hands for eternity.

Do we know that when we understand and see ourselves more as the Lord sees us, through Jesus, that we will become as bold as a lion? Confidence will be ours through HIM alone! Shame and guilt are NO MORE. He's asking us to look and see that He DEFEATED death.

WE ARE FREE!

Run. Come to Jesus.