January 13: ACTS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS

And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Revelation 19:8

There is a pattern throughout Scripture of our God’s patient pursuit of His beloved people. We can see it from the start as He came calling out in love to our first parents just after their failure of a simple test of obedience. From this scenario, we learn of: a) our propensity to rebel and b) His readiness to forgive and lead us toward restoration.

God’s call to Noah was for the benefit of all people. Noah recognized in himself and those of his generation the bent toward sinfulness, yet he found grace in the eyes of the LORD and walked with [Him] (Genesis 6:8,9). Did Noah [find] grace because he was looking for it? Likely. But it is also very evident that God’s grace was not difficult to find by virtue of the LORD’s readiness to relate to him (see 2 Chronicles 16:9). Noah’s obedience became an invitation to the world, to leave the life of sin in favor of walk[ing] with God. The Creator’s blueprint for the ark—a veritable engineering marvel—symbolizes a “blueprint” for life that survives judgment.

God called Abram for the benefit of all people (12:3). His exit from the Chaldeans was an exit from a culture steeped in godless paganism. Just as in Noah’s day, man’s interaction with man while excluding God brought about a fallen, wayward culture that called for an escape to safety. As the story continues, we see Abram’s obedience in get[ting] out of [his] country, from [his] family (12:1). Tokens of the culture that he had left remained with him for a time. Nevertheless, God’s patience and faithfulness reigned supreme as He continued to bless Abram, promising descendants as numerous as the dust of the earth (13:16) and the stars (15:5). And he believed in the LORD, and He accounted it to him for righteousness (v.6). Aha! So now we see that trusting the Lord (believing Him) moved this man away from the sinful culture that threatens to swallow us whole, and toward a character of right doing.

Included with the pattern of calling and wooing His people, the Lord holds out to us His raiment of beautiful character. When He said, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward” (15:1), He was acknowledging the reality of God’s followers in a fallen world which includes being surrounded by those who oppose obedience to Him. The previous chapter (Genesis 14) was the account of the rescue operation of Lot following a war of four pagan kings against five pagan kings. With a mere 318 servants, Abram had rescued his nephew along with five of the pagan kingdoms, both people and property. Abram saw that after rescuing Lot, he had acquired a new set of enemies.

Being a Christ-follower in today’s world may cause you to be perceived as an enemy. Even so, He Himself is our exceedingly great reward. Loyalty to Him is honored with a righteous raiment, clean and bright. Such a one’s countenance of joy is perceived by anyone genuinely seeking God’s grace, not as an enemy, but as an invitation to salvation in Christ. For more clarity: Isaiah 61:3,10; Matthew 17:2; Acts 4:13; Romans 5:17-21; Ephesians 2:10; Philippians 1:10-11; James 2:23; Revelation 3:4,5,18; 6:11; 7:9