For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:20

Many of the Pharisees truly wanted to be better people. But ironically, the system they were using led to superiority, vanity, and self-righteousness. Jesus is saying in today’s text that our righteousness must exceed that system of externality. He is proposing a better way—a way of living rightly before God that is really right; a way, not just of right believing, right speaking, or right appearing, but the way of a right heart. 

Jesus knows that we have hearts that desire to do right, but do not have the capacity to do it. What He is proposing here is nothing less than a renovation of the heart. That is completely in line with the prophecy God gave Ezekiel hundreds of years earlier:

A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. Ezekiel 36:26

That is what Jesus shows us in the Sermon on the Mount. Who can be at home and live comfortably in the kingdom of God? The one with the right heart—a kingdom heart. Have you had that new heart yet? 

PRAYER: Oh Lord, give me a new heart so that I may be able to live the kingdom life, in Jesus name. Amen.

PREPARE: There will be first fruit offering and thanksgiving at the end of the month. Start preparing your seed for this special day. When the first month is blessed, the rest of the months shall be sanctified.