25 Days of Thanksgiving – Day 1
25 Days of Thanksgiving – Day 1 – Psalm 7:17
"Thank You, Lord, For…Your Righteousness"
“I will give thanks to the LORD because of his righteousness; I will sing the praises of the name of the LORD Most High.”
What does it look like when someone gives you the very thing you couldn’t get on your own?
There was a young boy who walked past a little shop in town and saw a toy in the window. He was absolutely enthralled by it. This wasn’t something you’d find on a shelf at Walmart. It was one of a kind. Over the next few weeks, every chance he got, he came back just to look at it.
Finally, he worked up the nerve to go inside and ask the shop owner, “Sir, how much is that toy?”
“That toy is fifty dollars, son.”
The boy’s face fell. “I’ve never had fifty dollars. I don’t think I could ever have fifty dollars.” He turned and started walking toward the door.
“Son,” the shop owner called. “Tell you what.” He reached into his pocket, pulled out a fifty-dollar bill, and handed it to the boy. “Now you have fifty dollars.”
The boy was overjoyed. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” He took the toy to the counter and paid for it. But halfway through, he stopped, confused.
“Why did you do that? You’re trying to sell the toy. Why would you give me the money to buy it?”
The shop owner smiled.
“Son, you’re going to have so much joy with that toy. But I get so much joy seeing the joy in your eyes.”
God takes joy in giving us the joy of salvation.
Psalm 7 says,
“I will give thanks to the LORD because of his righteousness.”
When we hear about God’s righteousness, we might think first of God punishing the wicked. But Scripture tells us that the righteousness of God is revealed through faith (Romans 1:17). We see His righteousness most clearly in His grace, in the way He keeps His promises.
God promised a Savior, and He kept that promise in Jesus Christ. In His mercy, He forgives our sins and saves us. All that God does is good, holy, right, and just. That’s His righteousness, and we can be so grateful that He shows it to us in His grace.
But there’s another side to righteousness. What about ours?
The Bible tells us that on our own, our righteousness isn’t worth much. Isaiah says that even our righteous deeds are like filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). Dirty, disgusting, filthy rags. That’s what we bring. And with that kind of righteousness, standing in the presence of a holy God would not go well for us.
But here’s what God did.
God said, in effect, “I know you don’t have the righteousness you need, and you never will. So here, take Christ’s righteousness.”
Like that shop owner reaching into his own pocket, God gives us what we could never come up with ourselves. Our sins are forgiven through Jesus’ death on the cross. And then God clothes us in the righteousness of Jesus, so that we are righteous in His sight. Not because of anything we did, but because of what Jesus has done.
So we have two reasons to give thanks today.
We can thank God for His righteousness, which He shows us in His grace and mercy by keeping His promises.
And we can thank God for making us righteous by giving us the righteousness of Jesus.
How amazing is that?!
That’s true no matter what you’re going through in life. If you have faith in Jesus Christ, His righteousness is yours. And you can always give thanks to the Lord because of His righteousness.
Let’s pray…
Heavenly Father,
You show us Your righteousness by keeping all Your promises. You have fulfilled Your promise of salvation in Jesus Christ. All You do is good, pure, and just. On my own, I am not righteous. Even my “righteous” deeds are like filthy rags. However, You not only are righteous, but You make me righteous by clothing me with the righteousness of Jesus. Thank You for keeping all Your promises, for revealing Your righteousness to me through faith, and for making me righteous. In Jesus’ name.
Amen.
As part of your devotion time, I encourage you to also pray for at least some of the following:
- Your family
- Your local church
- Your pastor
- Some of your fellow church members
- The people on your B.L.E.S.S. list
- Your country and her leaders
- Your community
After praying for these people, you may want to finish your devotion time with the Lord’s Prayer…
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.
In Christ’s Service,
Pastor Kurt
