Who Are We Living to Please?
Last week, I was given the opportunity to stop by the care center and visit my husband’s aunt who lives within the memory-care portion of the facility. In talking to the attendants as they unlocked the entryway so that I could enter and later exit, one conversation stood out (again, as it always does). This precious one I was visiting, the one who struggles to remember the smallest details of life, is a blessing to everyone she encounters. She blesses as she:
- Wears a smile each day.
- Displaces kind actions to others.
- Sweeps the floors where she lives.
- Is a joy to everyone she encounters within the walls of the care center.
In the Apostle Paul’s second letter to the church living in Corinth, he wrote:
“Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him.”
(2 Corinthians 5: 9 NASB)
Today, let us consider our lives.
When considering our lives, our walk with God, and our Christianity, there are some questions we would do well to ask ourselves.
- Do you please God?
- Do we arise every morning, asking: “LORD, what would you have me do today?”
- Is it the ULTIMATE OXYMORON to use these words side-by-side: “LORD, not today!” ?
- When we think about pleasing God, what comes readily to our minds?
- Have we let go of “things” in our mortal bodies that are not pleasing to the LORD?
- When we place our head on our pillow at night, do we seek to recall the ways we pleased our Father throughout that day?
As we do, are we compelled to pray, thanking God for the divine opportunities He provided?
As we do, are we confident that we did exactly as the Holy Spirit led us?
- Truly, there are so many ways we can please our Father!
Consider these actions: We can—
- Read our Bibles.
- Share the Gospel message with those we encounter.
- Attend church.
- Be generous, helping others with their needs.
- Teach a Sunday School class.
- Seek justice for those who face oppression.
- When done faithfully and with the right intention, these actions please God.
However, also consider these actions: Additionally, we can—
- Shop for another who is house-bound with their grocery list in hand—OR even better
- Stopping by the home of the one who cannot get out of the house without help and take that person to the grocery store, walking alongside their electric wheelchair, placing the grocery items they need into the cart.
- Feed the hungry by giving of our money—OR even better
- Preparing a meal and then invite a hungry person to our kitchen table.
- Teach a class on the act of giving of ourselves—OR even better
- Stopping by the home of someone we know who struggles doing the small household chores and sweep their floor.
- Hang out with other Christian brothers and sisters—OR even better
- Including an unbeliever in the group, praying that the Holy Spirit will provide a divine opportunity to witness.
- Talk at work about how great our Sunday church service was to attend—OR even better
- Inviting someone in our workplace or community who we know is unchurched to come go with us to church this Sunday.
Truly, there are so many ways we can please our Father!
Will we arise this day, asking: “How can I seek to please myself more today than yesterday?”
—OR even better
Will we arise this day, asking: “LORD, what would you have me do today that will be pleasing to You?”
In Paul’s letter, he makes it clear why we should live to please the LORD once we belong to Him. Move back your toes (as I do mine) because for sure we have failed to please the LORD during our past. Today is a new day. Thank You, God.
As a Christian, our identity is in God.
- May we embrace our “new creation” and throw out the junk from our old way of life.
- May we let go of our old identity and be what God wants us to be—“to be pleasing to Him.”
“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive compensation for his deeds done through the body, in accordance with what he has done, whether good or bad.”
(2 Corinthians 5: 10 NASB)