“Whoever pursues righteousness and unfailing love will find life, righteousness, and honor.” Proverbs 21:21 NLT
Whether we admit it or not, we all are in pursuit of something. Sheriff Buford T. Justice was in ‘hot pursuit’ of Bo Darville in the 1977 film ‘Smokey and the Bandit.’ Yes, my age is showing. Every team in the NFL is in pursuit of the Vince Lombardi trophy for winning the Super Bowl. Corporate executives are pursuing the success of their business above the competition. Parents are in pursuit of raising their children to be responsible adults, and singles are in hot pursuit of finding that cherished mate. Pursuing a goal in life is commendable and we should work towards it, but may we also take a step back and inspect what we are pursuing.
How many of us pursue righteousness as a goal? A better question would be, how many of us pursue righteousness within the current goal we are pursuing? Pursuing righteousness within our goals entails the following: what is right, just, noble, virtuous, honoring, ethical, blameless, and impartial. If our goals fall short, perhaps some of the above righteousness has fallen short or not applied at all in pursuing our goals. King Solomon wrote, “Whoever pursues righteousness and unfailing love will find life, righteousness, and honor.” (Pr.21:21 nlt) Finding life, righteousness, and honor would prove successful for any goal we would pursue.
Goals will be set over the next two days in anticipation of the New Year. Examine closely what you are pursuing. Whatever goals you plan to pursue in 2025, make sure you leave a little room for righteousness. Better yet, if your main goal is to pursue righteousness then every goal that follows will be covered in the elements of righteousness and honor.
Word for the Soul 