I’ll Tell You What…

Second Peter 2 is an interesting chapter. Here we see examples of man’s sinful nature and God’s judgment against those who continue to willfully stand against God. To some Peter’s words are harsh and are made a stumbling block by those who choose not to investigate what is trying to be conveyed to the reader: righteousness. What exactly is righteousness and why is it important in our lives?

According to Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, righteousness is defined in these ways:

1. The quality or state of being righteous; holiness; purity; uprightness; rectitude.
   
   Note: Righteousness, as used in Scripture and theology, in which it chiefly occurs, is nearly equivalent to holiness, comprehending holy principles and affections of heart, and conformity of life to the divine law.
2. A righteous act, or righteous quality.
3. The act or conduct of one who is righteous.
4. The state of being right with God; justification; the work of Christ, which is the ground of justification.
   In the same dictionary, righteous is defined as “Doing, or according with, that which is right; yielding to all their due; just; equitable; especially, free from wrong, guilt, or sin; holy; as, a righteous man or act; a righteous retribution.”

Peter uses Noah and Lot as examples of righteous men who were not stained by sin even though they dwelt in the pit of sin. The sin was so great that God so no other way to deal with the sinful people than to destroy them. That seems a bit drastic to me but who am I to question God’s judgment? I can only study why God judged and punished them in that way and that will lead me to a better understanding of God’s nature. God was just and right in His actions; He was righteous. And so were Noah and Lot because they chose to obey God even though the pleasures of life were an ever-present temptation. I’m sure it was a choice they had to make every day of their lives.

So, righteousness not only involves the knowledge of right standing before God but also doing what is right before God. In other words, the doing is an extension of the knowledge: words made actions. That sounds like integrity: Steadfast adherence to a strict moral or ethical code1. That doesn’t mean that you should only do what is right when people are looking, it means you should be and act the same in every situation in which you find yourself be it on travel or just by yourself. It’s choosing not to watch that adult movie in that hotel room; it’s choosing not to surf to that web site you know is wrong; it’s not loosing your temper and cursing the tool or object when things aren’t going your way; it’s choosing to keep your eyes above the belt. It’s many things but it all boils down to reminding one’s self that doing what is right in the eyes of God is what matters most in spite of how frustrating or pleasurable something may seem. The reward of the world is temporal but the reward of God is eternal.

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1 The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition, 2000, Houghton Mifflin Company

Exactly what is Memorial Day? According to USMemorialDay.org, “Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation’s service.” As far as it’s birthplace, that’s up in the air. In May, 1966, President Lyndon Johnson declared Waterloo, NY, the official birthplace but there just isn’t enough evidence pointing to any one location. The observance was officially declared on May 5, 1868, by General John A. Logan. Here is a link to General Order No. 11.