"For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." - Matthew 5:20

When I was a kid we all had toy rockets. Some rockets were powered by water, others were powered by elastic, and others were powered by black powder and chemicals. The one common factor about these rockets was their inability to break out of the earth's atmosphere and successfully make it to the moon. No matter how cool they looked or how much we believed, the little guys just didn't have the right stuff inside.

As Jesus taught on the subject of righteous living, He made it clear that the only one kind of life that would make it to heaven. This life would have to exceed the righteousness of the Pharisees. Such people would have to have much more than good looks and actions. They would have to have the right stuff inside.

Will you make it out of the earth's atmosphere and successfully make it to heaven my friend? Well, it won't be because you cross your t's and dot your i's the right way. It won't be because you dress like Jesus or talk like Paul. You need more than your own righteousness; you need what Paul wrote about in Romans 1:17, "For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.” The only way to get to heaven is by having the right stuff inside.