Who?

Read Psalm 15. One who walks with integrity, practices righteousness, And speaks truth in his heart. Psalms 15:2

Sometimes the answer is that simple.

In Psalms 15, David starts with a simple question. “LORD, who may reside in Your tent? Who may settle on Your holy hill?” David poses the question to make us think about what it means to be in a relationship with our Holy God. Remember, this Psalm that David wrote was to be read or sung over and over again to remind himself and God’s people of the truths it was proclaiming. The question is not complicated, and the answer is not complicated, either.

“One who walks with integrity, practices righteousness, and speaks truth in his heart.” The first answer is a look at the believer’s personal integrity and internal processing in God. This isn’t a form of moral elitism; this is the actual fruit of a believer in Christ’s life.

Think back to before you were a Christian. Was moral integrity a reality in your life? Probably not. Was practicing righteousness the first thing you woke up wanting to do? I highly doubt it. And yet when we’ve been saved by the incredible Grace of God and the Holy Spirit comes to live in us, some changes take place. All of a sudden, the right thing to do is because God said it becomes important. We value truth and integrity. Why? Because we are now in a relationship with the God of integrity, righteousness, and truth.

There are more thoughts in this Psalm about the practice of these things, but I’d like to just hang out for this devotional on a thought that I think is lost, even among believers and Churches today. Integrity, righteousness, and truth are sooooooo important and sooo needed and vital when it comes to the practice of our relationship with God. So often in Christendom (Churches and Christians in general), we use the Grace of God as an excuse to keep sinning, to excuse our lack of integrity, and to not speak the truth in love like we should because we feel it will hurt feelings. We lack in practicing righteousness because of the circumstances, people, or situations around us. We let everything else be the driver in our lives other than the simple reality that we are in a relationship with a Holy God who is integrity, righteousness, and truth.

Here’s a thought, how about our effort and energy be directed at what he wants us to thrive in. It’s His character He is building in us because we are made in His image and in a relationship with Him. Walking in integrity, practicing righteousness, and speaking truth, are not just the endgame, but the whole sum of the parts of God, leading us to be more like Him.

This week I pray we all walk in integrity, practice righteousness, and speak the truth like our amazing God.

Pastor Mike


Leave a Reply

^