Pleasing God
2 Corinthians 5:9 “ So we make it our goal to please Him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it.”
All of us are born with the people-pleasing gene. We want to please people and have them like us. This includes our family, our boss, our friends and our Church, just for starters. In my Gateway High School days, I knew pleasing my parents included obedience in bi-weekly mowing and bagging the lawn, regular haircuts and getting the car home from dates by midnight. The truth is I hated mowing the lawn, getting haircuts and one time I totaled the car! They never ex-communicated me from the family. In fact, I learned that no matter my failure, I was always their son but my obedience influenced the dynamic of our relationship.
Think of how this is true of your faith in Christ. When by grace through faith you have union with Jesus, that union is not only permanent, it’s for eternity. Philippians 1:6 says, “ He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion.” Your union with Christ is static and does not ebb and flow, but your communion with Christ is dynamic and it both increases and decreases. Remember, our obedience to Christ is not meritorious but necessary. It is commanded. Jesus says. “If you love me, you will obey what I command. As the Father has loved me so I have loved you. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love” (John 14:15, 15:9-10). The work of the Spirit of God in us makes this possible, especially as He makes the gospel of grace shine in our heart.
A great secret of obedience to Christ is Joy. We find real joy in pleasing Him. As we make it our goal to please Him, and as we obey, down comes joy into our lives. Just as a parent delights in their child who obeys out of love and reverence for their parent, our heavenly Father delights in those who fear Him and put their hope in His unfailing love (Psalm 147:11).
I used to think that pleasing God was not possible. After reading Luther’s classic, The Bondage of the Will, I found it amazing that God would find anything we do pleasing to Him. But pleasing God is not only possible, it is our calling as Christian people. Hebrews 11 tells us what pleases God: faith. Without faith, pleasing God is impossible. We know that even our faith is a gift of amazing grace and that wonderful grace of Jesus Christ is the best motor for obedience and good works.
One more thing: When Paul says, “We make it our goal to please Him,” remember how God’s word teaches us that our praises please him more than sacrifice. Psalm 69:30-31 says, “I Will praise God’s name in song and glorify Him with thanksgiving. This will please the Lord more than (sacrificing) an ox, more than a bull…” Also, Paul says, “In love He predestined us to adoption as sons, through Jesus Christ, to the praise of the glory of His grace”(Ephesians 1:5).
If we have a bumper sticker, it should say, “Born to Worship!” Every ministry of our Church should be designed to equip God’s people to praise Him and worship Him in Spirit and in truth. The end for which God created the world is the praise of His own glory.
Why do we miss public worship so much in this crazy waiting period? Because we were made to worship Him and please Him, singing the glory of his name.
A prayer….
There can be nothing better than to praise your name,
O Lord, and to declare your lovingkindness in the morning ,
On your holy and blessed Sabbath day!
Yours is the glory and the victory, and I praise you.
Everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom,
And you excel as Lord of all. Riches and honor come from you.
You reign over all. Power and strength are in your hands
May my chief delight be to dedicate myself to your glory and
honor, not my own way or my own will. Lord, I long for that eternal
Sabbath, which I will celebrate with saints and angels in unspeakable joy
and glory, to your praise and worship, in your heavenly kingdom forevermore. Amen
----Lewis Bayly 1575-1631