Pleasing God, Making Disciples of Jesus Christ

The Privilege To Please God

Psalm 119:30-32 – I have chosen the way of faithfulness; I set your rules before me. I cling to your testimonies, O LORD; let me not be put to shame! I will run in the way of your commandments when you enlarge my heart!

THEME OF THE DAY: THE PRIVILEGE TO PLEASE GOD.  Let’s take a few moments and just let the theme of the day “simmer” in our hearts and minds.  What brings pleasure to God?  His glory.  What are we called to do?  Live for His glory.  How is that to be fleshed out each and every day of our lives?  One word, but oh what a word!  It is the very word defining our created purpose.  It is the very word directing our lives in Christ.  It is the very word by which we prove our love to God.  It is the very word which will determine the quality of our judgment when we stand before the Lord on the Day of Judgment.  It is also the very word that is the action of today’s nugget theme. The word is obedience.

The wisest man who ever lived, King Solomon, concluded the best book in the Bible if we really want to see life as it really is with these words, “The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil” (Ecclesiastes12:13-14).  Life may truly be simplified by this simple phrase, “Obey the Word of God.”  Yes, simple to write, simple to say, but difficult to live, but difficult doesn’t mean impossible.  In our battles against sin, and the many ones we lose, we don’t need to raise the white flag of spiritual surrender and say, “I can’t do this.”  Christians don’t have to say that.  Sinners do.  Before we came to Christ, God still gave us commands to obey.  They are the Ten Commandments, or His moral law.  And here is the problem.  God rightly demands us to obey them, but outside of Christ, that is impossible.  The Law condemns us and reveals sin.  It can never be fulfilled on our own nor do we desire to do so.  We are adamantly against God and His law, but the law did serve a crucial purpose for us.  The Apostle Paul called the law “a schoolmaster” to bring us to Christ (Galatians3:24).  And when the “schoolmaster” did its work in bringing us to Christ, everything changes about God’s law and commandments.

First, in Christ, we now delight in the law and commands of God.  This is why it is called “new birth”.  We get a new heart with new desires.  One of the ways to have assurance of salvation is to simply ask ourselves the question, “Do I delight in the commands of God with a yearning to obey them?”  Christians delight in God’s commands.  They want to obey and will obey. Yes, our obedience won’t be perfect, but it will be sincere, consistent and progressive. It should be of great spiritual concern if we don’t regularly, even passionately, think about God’s commands with a yearning and action to obey them. God’s children have been given a desire to obey Him and see it as a privilege revealing our commitment to please Him.

Next, in Christ, we now have the power to obey the law and commands of God.  When it comes to obedience to our Lord’s commands, there isn’t a single one we may say, “I can’t do that.”  Once in Christ, with the power of His resurrection in us, there is never a time we may rightly say, “I can’t obey.”  It will always be “I won’t obey.”  He made it clear, “we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us” (Philippians 4:13).

So, how do we view obedience to God’s commands?  Are we looking at our lives and seeing aggressive, compassionate, and diligent obedience as our privilege to please God?  I hope so. After all, that is why He created and saved us; to live in obedience to Him as a display of our love for now and into eternity.

Next, we now have the power to obey God’s commands – all of them.  No, not perfectly, but sincerely, consistently, and progressively.

PRAYER: “Father, make me see the greatest joy in my life is obeying You.”

QUOTE: “There is a direct correlation between our joy and our obedience.  The latter is a condition of the former”