Isaiah 3:10 (NIV) Tell the righteous it will be well with them, for they will enjoy the fruit of their deeds.

As was their pattern, Jerusalem and Judah had fallen into sin and wickedness and they were not listening to the messages from the prophets that the Lord had sent to correct them. Because of that, God, through the Prophet Isaiah, decreed that judgement was coming. The Lord rebuked the elders and the leaders who instead of being good examples to the people were the very ones who were leading the people astray. The warning of coming judgement was for men and women alike, who together forsook the Lord and forsook His ways.

In the middle of God’s warning of impending judgement in the verse above, the Lord paused His rebuke to the people for a moment to assure the people who had not gone along with the rebellious ways of the majority of the people, but who had kept themselves pure and righteous before God. While God was declaring judgement, He stopped to give an encouraging word to the people who were living right before Him. God is a just and righteous Judge and He sees all we do, even being able to see the motives behind what we do and when He finds anyone who honors and obeys Him, He grants them favor and gives them His blessings.

But who are the righteous? The Word of God tells us that no one is righteous and that is absolutely true (Romans 3:10). When we look at ourselves and remember things that we have done that we wish we could undo or take back and when we know that we all have a skeleton closet that we would not want anyone to see, then thinking of ourselves as righteous seems like a ridiculous thought. But the great news is that when the Word of God talks about the righteous, it is not talking about good people. It’s talking about people that have been washed in the blood of the Lamb. It’s about people that have asked for and received the forgiveness of their sins by receiving the salvation that Jesus offers through His death on the cross. The righteous are those who have surrendered their hearts and lives to Him and who are now “wearing” the robe of righteousness that He gives to those that are His. That robe of righteousness is none other than the righteousness of Jesus and now that He lives in us, The Father sees us as righteous.

That is so good to know, especially in this day and age that we live in. Sin has increased at an alarming rate just as Jesus foretold (Matthew 24:12) and we are seeing things that were once done in secret and in the dark now being done unashamedly in the daylight. People are saying absurd things that go against sanity and truth and prefer to live in wickedness and according to lies. Because of all of this, judgement will come one day soon, just as the Lord spoke about in Matthew 24. But it will go differently for the righteous. It will go well for all who are living according to the Word of God and who love and serve Jesus with all of their heart. Praise be to God who is merciful and full of grace and who looks out for those of us that have been redeemed!

Pastor Joey Vazquez