Are You Pleasing God?
“And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.” Col. 1:9-10 ESV
“Furthermore then we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more. For ye know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus.” 1 Thess. 4:1-2 KJV
“But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” Hebrews 11:6 KJV
If you had to stop at any given point in any 24-hour period of your life without any prior notice and answer this question, would you be able to answer it affirmatively? Are you pleasing God? Is there any more important question than this one? Is there any more convicting question than this one? Are you pleasing God in this very moment? We are humans. We fall short of God’s glory every breath we take. That’s why we need His grace. But we must ask ourselves this. Are we at the very least aimed in the right direction? Are our hearts and lives aimed in the direction of God? Are we living and breathing for Him? Do we repent when His Spirit convicts us of wrongdoing? Are our hearts and eyes turned to the Lord? And what about His Word? How do we know what is pleasing to God?
There is nothing more pleasing to God according to His Word than to love and serve Him with all our hearts, and to love our neighbors as ourselves. Along with this to have faith in Jesus Christ as Lord. Faith and love are not the end; they are the beginning. True faith in Christ and true love of God are demonstrated in a lifestyle of living to love and please God. In our everyday lives, how do we know what pleases God? How do others know what pleases you? How do you know what pleases me? We tell each other, do we not? Well, God tells us in His Word what pleases Him! If we genuinely believe Jesus Christ is Lord and sincerely love God our Father, we will live our lives to please God!
The verses above are a wonderful encouragement we should live to please God above all else. We are encouraged to GROW in pleasing God, to please Him increasingly! We are encouraged to produce the fruit of good works AND to “increase in the knowledge of God.” Not merely in head knowledge, but in KNOWING GOD! To grow in fellowship with God.
Are you pleasing God?