GO! Cornerstones | "Righteousness & Love"

Of Faith, Hope, & Love
October 2, 2008
by Scott A. Nordstrom

Do you ever read something and just wonder if there is any hidden message? Maybe in your reading lies a truth that surpasses all understanding? I recently read a passage that was such a message and just maybe a gateway to something much more important for you and me.

Proverbs 21:21 -He who pursues righteousness and love finds life, prosperity and honor. (NIV)

For me this holds great promise and there are so many things that arise out of this passage. I think that the encouraging word for me is the notion of the word pursues. The word here may not imply accomplishment, but merely the act of continued effort to capture or overtake. You might say that we are engaged in the continued effort to become righteous and or a place or state of love. I am encouraged by the proposition to pursue with no predetermined expectations, but only to find life, prosperity and honor in the process.

The next item in the passage that demands my consideration is the word righteousness and whether this concept is somehow connected to love. My dictionary indicates that righteousness is “the quality or state of being righteous”. Righteousness is somehow moral conduct. You might say the process of being right (certainly this is something I should know about). This begs the question of the deeper meaning of righteous. From my research righteous can be describes as morally justified, or upright without guilt or sin. You might transcend a religious definition and describe righteous as with virtue or morality. So righteousness becomes the state or conduct of being moral, upright, and without guilt. Hmmmm….. I won’t speak for you, but for me this is a real stretch. I know that the past does not equal the future, but even for me today -to consider righteousness is difficult, but according to the passage I am merely to pursue.

The word love in this passage is more closely associated with an action than a feeling. The original Hebrew uses the word mercy rather than the word love. The meaning in this passage points toward God and is an act of kindness –a good deed. For me, and this is not stretch, if you show this kindness to your fellow man, or you do something good for them, this act is ultimately toward God. And again in this passage, we refer you back to the word pursue.

Look at the reward here! As we pursue to become right or correct and in this process we show love or do good deeds to others, we will realize life, prosperity and honor.

If in your spiritual walk, if all you were able to gain was life, prosperity, and honor -what more would you need? Today is the day to start living by beginning the pursuit!

Peace, and be Blessed!