For the next few days, I want to discuss three things that I believe lead to a blessed life. As Christians, we use the word blessed a lot, but I’m not always sure we understand what it means. Because I try to look at the Bible holistically, I’ve come up with a triad of virtues, which, based on the entire compendium of Scripture, seem to lead to the most happy and fulfilling human existence. While this is just my observation, I hope these next few devotions offer a point of focus as we seek to obtain the abundant life that Jesus died to give us. That said, the first thing that causes us to inherit blessing is righteousness. Though this can be an uncomfortable word, the reality is that God already sees us as righteous. We don’t have to worry about meeting His perfect standard, because if we’ve accepted the gift of salvation through His Son, He loves us just as we are. However, though we aren’t saved by good works, abundant life finds us as we seek to walk like our Savior did. While we constantly have to wrestle with our sinful nature, His Word sets forth a way to avoid the pain and consequences of wrong living. As we commit ourselves to following in Jesus’ footsteps and imitating Him in attitude and action, we gain a peace deep within our souls. By keeping our conscience clear, confessing our mistakes, and letting the Holy Spirit conform us every day into His likeness, we inherit His very best for today and all of our tomorrows.

My friend, there’s a harvest of blessing and influence for the righteous! While the world says to “do it your way” and you’ll be happy, the truth is that the good life comes through obedience to the ways of God. There’s nothing burdensome about His commands, and there’s a reason for everything He asks you to do. Since He created you, He understands your struggles, and He wants to protect your body, mind, and spirit from the devil’s schemes. He provides His perfect law of love as a buffer and a shield, and He invites you to walk in the way of righteousness so you can experience abundant living in Him.