WISDOM FOR THE DAY DEVOTIONAL
BY BISHOP MIKE OKONKWO
MAY 1 – FRIDAY 2026
TOPIC: AWAKE TO RIGHTEOUSNESS
“Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame.” 1 Corinthians 15:34 KJV
Awake in this text means putting on the mentality of your righteousness. Being established and rooted in righteousness will make you not to sin. Some people don’t understand how God functions. They think that it is by what they do, their performance, or their effort, that will make them righteous.
But Paul says, awake to this righteousness that is revealed and sin not. Which means, if I am not awake to righteousness, I will sin. So, when you see people going about, living in sin as a lifestyle and enjoying it, they are not awake to righteousness.
Do you know how Paul corrects sinners in the Bible? Many places in 1 Corinthians 6, we see the phrase, “know you not?” In other words, have you forgotten who you are? That means the reason you are sinning is that you are ignorant of who you are.
Know you not that you are the righteousness of God? Know you not that you are the temple of God; that God is living inside you. So, when people forget who they are, they behave contrary to who they are. So, awake to your righteousness, and then you will not sin.
Today, some are still preaching the Ten Commandments, saying you must obey this so that God will do that. That is an insult to God. God is a gracious and glorious God. He doesn’t need you to do something for Him to do. He is a good God. So, with or without you, He is already good.
And He has decided to do you good. When Adam sinned, God did not run away from him. Rather, it was Adam who ran, and God followed him. Adam tried to cover himself with leaves. God said, no, I don’t want my image to be covered with leaves. God Almighty, the Holy God, came down, took an animal, slaughtered it, cleaned it out, and wrapped the same man that sinned.
That was Grace! God has come to deal with us on the arena of grace, not judgment.
Further Reading: Genesis 3:1-21, 1 Corinthians 6:9-20.