The ‘catch 22’ of righteousness

“Suppose there is a righteous man
who does what is just and right. He does not eat at the mountain shrines or look to the idols of Israel. He does not defile his neighbor’s (sic) wife or have sexual relations with a woman during her period. He does not oppress anyone, but returns what he took in pledge for a loan. He does not commit robbery but gives his food to the hungry and provides clothing for the naked. He does not lend to them at interest or take a profit from them. He withholds his hand from doing wrong and judges fairly between two parties. He follows my decrees and faithfully keeps my laws. That man is righteous; he will surely live, declares the Sovereign Lord.”   Ezekiel 18:5-9 (NIV)

I’ve been thinking a lot recently about what I’ve named the ‘catch 22’ of righteousness. If I want to be righteous because the bible says I will then ‘surely live’, am I not just being like the Pharisees? Am I just following the rules to the letter so that I will gain something? I’ve really struggled to get my head round how to go about trying to be righteous for the right reason. The biggest question for me seems to be ‘what is the right reason for wanting to be righteous?’. If I put a reason to my desire to be righteous, it somehow feels like a contradiction. Like I’m only longing for righteousness because there is some kind of gain to it. I found myself coming to the conclusion that my longing for righteousness was so that I would be closer to God. But then surely that’s me giving a reason to wanting to be righteous and I’m back where I started, feeling like a Pharisee. After pondering this all week and confusing Jimmy with my muddled thoughts, I decided that perhaps the question I need to answer was how can I learn to be righteous without it being about me?

I love this quote from Bear Grylls, 
“Sure, we want to change the world, lead friends to Christ…But the way to do this is to keep close to Jesus. To nestle, not wrestle.”

I love the beautiful imagery of nestling into the Fathers arms; being close to Him, just as a parent holds their child safe and close. That when we are nestled close to Him, the rest just comes. When we live that near to Jesus, others can see it. When we are so close that we feel safe and secure, whatever situation we find ourselves in, it’s almost like we lead people to Him ‘by accident’, they just can’t resist getting to know the Father. If we’re that close to Jesus, we can’t help but look after the sick, provide for the poor. Is that where true righteousness can grow? That we’re nestled so close to Jesus, idols and things that are not ours just don’t interest us. That we’re so secure in his arms all we want to do is serve the poor; the hungry; the oppressed. Keeping His decrees & laws just comes naturally, we don’t know how to do anything else. Is that when righteousness comes, when we forget about wanting to be righteous but start yearning to know him more? Desperately wanting to be nestled in His arms.

Perhaps righteousness is not something we can work at, our aim or goal, but simply the outcome of being close to Jesus?