Sermon on the Mount
"For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 5:20
Most games are made to be won. Chutes and Ladders would be no fun if no one ever made it to the top. Sorry and Trouble have "home spaces" where you are safe from getting knocked back to the start, because who would want to play a game where you never win, but rather endlessly go around a board until you decide to quit. Even the Hasbro "Game of Life" ends with a winner after everyone finishes their forty-five to sixty minute "life" around the board.
If life were a game, then heaven would certainly be the "home space" where you are finally safe from losing. But how do you get there? Jesus describes how difficult it is to enter the "home space" of heaven in Matthew 5:20. The outward righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees was something people of Jesus' time considered unsurpassable. Today, still, the highest levels of outward righteousness fall far short of the righteousness required to enter heaven. So if life were a game, it would be unwinnable on your own.
However, you are not on your own. If life were a game, then you have the greatest teammate to ever play the game. Jesus, your Savior, played the game with a level of righteousness that cannot be improved upon. What's more, is that He gives you this righteousness that exceeds the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees, so that you can enter the "home space" of heaven, and win what was unwinnable on your own.
Life is no game. There are no repeats, saved games, or retries. But Jesus didn't need any of those, and you don't either since Jesus, the ultimate winner, grants you the prize of eternal life which He won. You will surely fail and have to try again at many things in your life. That is part of life. But thanks be to God who grants you the perfect score.
Dear Savior, I am not righteous. Thank You for declaring me righteous. Amen.