Flourish Even More in 2024… in Righteousness

    I would like to expand on last week’s post (based on Psalm 92:12-15) in which it said “the righteous shall flourish like a palm tree, he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.” A Lebanon cedar was truly a flourishing tree, reaching far up into the heavens as they grew to maturity – and we can be like that too as we reach forward to those things which are ahead and press toward the goal of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:13-14)!

    This week I would like you to think on this verse:

“Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.” (2 Timothy 2:22 NKJV)

    God never asks us to remove something from our lives without giving us something good to replace it with (take note of Ephesians 4 and Colossians 3 “put off…” followed by “put on…”). In this verse, we are told to run from youthful lusts and instead run toward righteousness, faith, love, and peace. It is important that we understand what we are running toward in order to keep our determination focused on the goal.

Side note: The King James Version uses the word “follow” in 2 Timothy 2:22, but I like how the New King James Version uses the word “pursue”. “Follow” feels to me unintentional without thought, coincidental even (although it does not mean that), you are simply following someone down a hall, for example, but “pursue” is ripe with intention and purpose, you are pursuing someone down a hall, you fully determine to get to them.

    We are to PURSUE righteousness.

    Righteousness is ‘equity of character or act.’ ‘Equity of character’ is to possess all good qualities (of God, His attributes) in perfect balance.

    God is just while still possessing compassion and mercy. God is kind but His disposition toward sin will never be altered. God is love, but His love never undermines His Truth. For example: 2 Peter 3:9 “[God] is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish (His love for us), but that all should come to repentance” – His truth states that we will perish if we do not repent and submit to Him (see Romans 2:2-11). His love offers us hope, but we have a responsibility toward Him in order to have salvation.

    All that God is is in perfect balance! We should always be striving to be like Him in all things (1 Peter 1:13-16, 1 John 3:1-3, Ephesians 5:1), striving to conduct ourselves with that same balance.

    How important is it that we pursue righteousness?

    Consider Matthew 6:33

“…seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” (NKJV)

    Seek FIRST the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Above all else, seek Him and His righteousness; it’s THAT important!

    What are the things that will be added to you when you seek first God and His righteousness? See verse 31 – you will have life’s necessities: food, drink, and clothing. With these things you can be content (please read 1 Timothy 6:6-8) and you will not have to worry, God WILL provide. God blesses His children with what we need each day; that is why verse 34 states the command “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for today is its own trouble.”

    When we trust God to provide the necessities of life for us each day as we humbly seek and serve Him, we will soon learn that He also provides us with wisdom and strength to get through our day. When we take hold of those things, we will not worry about tomorrow because we will know that if God grants us a new day, with that new day He will also grant us renewed strength and ability (Psalm 103:1-5, Isaiah 40:28-31, Lamentations 3:22-26) to take into that day.

    A woman seeking FIRST the kingdom of God and His righteousness, will not worry about tomorrow. She will not borrow trouble from some future day - destroying the peace of her “today” – she will instead trust wholly in God, knowing He will be there in any tomorrow she may be granted. She will bless God and praise Him for the blessings He grants her today, her heart will overflow with thanksgiving and her mind will be guarded with peace (Philippians 4:6-7).

    God loves us! He is full of lovingkindness. He asks us to seek Him first. With each day we are given, let us do just that! Let’s determine to flourish even more in 2024! And at the end of each day, let our hearts praise Him for the strength, wisdom, and ability He gave us to get through the day – He is forever faithful! Let us be forever faithful in our pursuit of being like Him, in our pursuit of being found right in His sight, in our pursuit of righteousness!

“It is good to give thanks to the LORD, And to sing praises to Your name, O Most High; to declare Your lovingkindness in the morning, and Your faithfulness every night.” (Psalm 92:1-2 NKJV)

You can do it! So can I!!