Kingdom of Heaven

For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

                                                                           Matthew 5:20

               The scribes and Pharisees were people that lived to follow the law and do everything right according to what was given. They continually thought little of Jesus because He would hang out with sinners and heal people on the Sabbath. They thought their works brought them righteousness so they kept them to the best of their ability, even getting down to the point of being legalistic about it. But as we know, Jesus is more righteous than any of these people and He has given His righteousness to us when we believe and confess His name. His work on the cross covers our unrighteousness that we could never earn with works, (Like the Pharisees thought) and pays for our debt we owe to God for our sin. Therefore we have the righteousness of Jesus on our record and have the free gift of eternal life with Jesus forever. Even if the scribes and Pharisees did all their hard work and were seen as righteous, if they didn’t have true relationship with Jesus it wouldn’t count for anything. With that knowledge I believe we should try even more to seek the Lord and strive after living a life that glorifies Him in everything. Not trying to be more righteous than others, but aiming to be like Christ and love without relent.

Application- aim to be more like Christ in all I do and not focus on being a “good person”.