““Righteousness! Righteousness, you shall pursue, that you may live and possess the land which Yahweh your God is giving you.”(Deuteronomy 16:20 LSB) https://accordance.bible/link/read/LSB#Deut._16:20

Is this not the problem in America today? We as a nation are not pursuing righteousness, instead each one pursues his own personal pleasures? What is righteousness? It is right living. Who defines such a thing? If we do because we see ourselves as the ultimate authority of our lives then we will live as we are living now, each one doing what is right in their own eyes. The result of such living? We see it. Chaos, murder, stealing, lying, perversion of every kind etc. If an outside source defines right living that is objective, free from human influence, like God, then we all have the same standard for living. This is indeed why God has given us His word. God defines right living, not only because He is the Creator of all and the Sustainer of all but because He is the Judge of all. He alone is capable of holding all people accountable to His standard which is the ultimate reason why He alone gets to decide and declare what is right living. God will judge all people according to His Word by His Son, the living Word, Who perfectly lived according to God’s Word making Him wholly righteous. Do we want right living in our land? Then the church must live according to God’s Word. What about everyone else? Part of living right according to God is for His church to make disciples, teaching everyone to obey everything Jesus commanded us. The degree of righteousness in the land is the reflection of the degree to which the church is living righteously and making disciples who are also living right according to God’s standard.