Today's Journey
Pleasing Him
Jul.08,2013
http://getmorestrength.org
“So we make it our goal to please him.” 2 Corinthians 5:9
It may not always seem like it, but children really do want
to please their parents. Just picture the little boy who beams with
pleasure when his mom proudly puts the crayon-scribbled picture up on
the fridge! Or the little girl who immediately looks up into the
bleachers to see if Dad saw her first hit in softball.
Sadly, when we grow up without feeling the joy of parental
affirmation, we often end up with misdirected drives to perform and
please someone, somewhere, somehow. As a result, it’s possible to become
twisted by unhealthy addictions to work or by immoral
relationships. This tendency may even leave us spiritually weak and
unprincipled, willing to violate biblical standards if it means we can
please someone who is leading us down the wrong path.
This intrinsic drive to please the significant people in our lives
ultimately reflects the fact that we were built to bring pleasure to
someone outside of ourselves—namely our Creator God. I can’t think of a
higher satisfaction in life than knowing that He indeed is pleased with
me, knowing that I am right with Him and that He delights in my love for
Him. And just in case you have always pictured God as being hard to
please—perhaps like some people you know—think again. The psalmist tells
us, “the Lord takes delight in his people” (Psalm 149:4). In Romans 12:1,
we learn that He is literally pleased when we offer our bodies as
“living sacrifices,” and the writer of Hebrews assures us that when we
offer a “sacrifice of praise” as well as the sacrifice of doing good and
sharing with others, we can know the joy of pleasing God (Hebrews 13:15-16).
This joy is not a surreal, head-in-the-clouds experience nor a
short-lived, down-sided thrill package that our world offers based on
self-indulgence. Rather, it is the long-term sense of stability and
“all-rightness” that comes from a life bent on obedience to our heavenly
Father and knowing that He delights in our cooperation with His will
and ways.
Paul makes it clear that pleasing God also involves a commitment to
serve those around us, looking to Jesus as our example. “Each of us
should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. For even
Christ did not please himself” (Romans 15:2-3).
When our time and energy is self-directed, focused only on our own
welfare and pleasure, we miss the joy of serving others as a way of
bringing pleasure to our heavenly Father. And, by the way, He never
intended pleasure to be a goal of our lives, but rather a by-product of
significant and constructive pursuits. It comes from fulfilling what we
were built to do in terms of serving Him. It’s the joy of bringing
happiness to others and knowing that when that is happening, God is
pleased with us.
Take a tip from Paul. Make it your life pursuit to be busy pleasing the One who loves to be pleased with you!
YOUR JOURNEY…
- In which seasons of your life have you sensed God’s pleasure with you?
- On what basis is God pleased with His people?
- Ephesians 5:10 tells us to “find out what pleases the Lord.” Beginning with some things mentioned in that passage, list some things that bring the Lord pleasure. Ask the Lord to cultivate a deep desire to please Him first and foremost.
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