A Life That Pleases God
“And we pray this in order that you may live
a life worthy of the Lord and may please Him in every way:
bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge
of God.”
Col. 1:10
The Bible tells
us that Job was a man who in all reality must have had the
world by the tail. He not only was a man of wealth, but was
a family man with children and was respected in his city.
The way Job described himself was that God’s “lamp shone
upon his head” and said that his “path was drenched with
cream and the rock poured our streams of olive oil” for
him. (Job 29:3, 6) Job
was a man who was blameless, upright, fearing God and
shunning evil. (Job 1:1)
Then all of a
sudden Job’s life turned upside down because disaster struck
him and his family. His children perished - every one of
them on the same day. Job’s words were “The Lord gave and
the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.”
(Job 1:21) Then Job
lost all of his livestock and his body was stricken with
boils from the top of his head to the soles of his feet, but
still Job did not sin. (Job
2:10) His wife asked him why he didn’t curse God and
die, but he remained steadfast in his faith despite her
words. (Job 2:9-10)
When Job’s
friends saw his extreme difficulties, they assumed he must
have sinned, but he had not and continued to be an upright
man. Job’s life can be a pattern for us because he stood
strong for God in the midst of adversity and despite what
his wife and friends said to him. That is the kind of life
that pleases God!
There has been a
song from out of the past that has been on my heart for
several months now. Many times God gives me a song and it
will inspire me to write on a particular subject. This is
one of those times. The song simply says: “Praise You,
praise You. Let my life praise You. Praise You, praise
You. Let my life, O Lord, praise You.” As I have
reflected on that song, my prayer has become, “O God, I want
my life to praise You in every way, but what kind of life
would that be? What kind of life can I possibly live that
would be an open praise to you and glorify Your holy name?”
Since the Word tells us to “find out what pleases the Lord,”
that’s what I set out to do. (Eph.
5:10)
One way we know
we’re pleasing God is when we have faith in Him because it
is impossible to please Him without it.
(Heb. 11:6) Life can
throw us some hardballs occasionally just as with Job, but
when we put our faith in God, standing firm and steadfast,
we can get through every struggle with His help.
Another thing is
we must fear the Lord. Now I’m not talking about fearing
God so much that we’re shaking in our boots! But I believe
fearing God means that we should be in total awe of Him and
to respect who He really is as our Creator, God and Father,
and therefore, becoming obedient and living for Him. The
Lord takes pleasure in those who fear Him and put their hope
in his unfailing love. (Psalm
147:11)
You know many
times we can be totally oblivious to the fact that we need
to live in such a way to please God. Many are out to please
themselves, looking for ways to satisfy and follow their own
desires. Some people never think of consulting with God to
see what they can do to please Him. But God looks into our
hearts and examines our minds to see what our motives are.
(Jer. 17:10) We must
always be conscious of the fact that the eyes of the Lord
are watching to see what we do, where we go and He hears
what we say.
For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous
and His ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of
the Lord is against those who do evil.
1 Peter 3:12
We must also
consider that God gives us a choice in what we do in every
matter. After all, He did not make us into robots but gives
us a choice in what we do. But we must consider that we
will reap what we sow and there are consequences and
possible repercussions in every wrong choice.
(Gal. 6:7-8) It is
evident from Scripture that a life void of sin is one that
pleases God.
However, there
are precious promises for those who delight themselves in
the Lord. Let’s look to see what Isaiah tells us. Keep in
mind that the words Isaiah spoke were prophetic words
directly from God:
“If you keep your feet from breaking the
Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day, if you
call the Sabbath a delight and the Lord’s holy day
honorable, and if you honor it by not going your own way and
not doing as you please or speaking idle words, then you
will find your joy in the Lord, and I will cause you to ride
on the heights of the land . . . .”
Isaiah
58:13-14
God is looking
for men and women who delight themselves in Him and for
those who take pleasure in doing His will. Actually, God
expects us to act just as respectful behind closed doors as
out in the open and to live lives of integrity. We’re to
love what is good, living self-controlled, upright, holy and
disciplined lives. (Titus
1:8)
Jesus gave
us an example of the life that pleases God when He explained
the greatest commandment:
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart
and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the
first and greatest commandment. And the second one is like
it: Love your neighbor as yourself.”
Matt. 22:37-39
(NIV)
It is evident
from that Scripture that it pleases God for us to love Him
or that commandment would not have been given. Actually,
God wanted man to love Him from the beginning of time, but
many rebelled against Him instead and many are still against
their Maker even today. The second part of that verse says
to love your neighbor and we know that loving others pleases
God. When we share with others, God is pleased because that
type of sacrifice is a fragrant offering, acceptable and
pleasing in His sight. (Heb.
13:16; Phil. 4:18)
Oh, and let’s go
back and visit Brother Job before we go. We don’t want to
leave out “the rest of the story” as Paul Harvey says.
Job’s story turned out to be one of healing and restoration
in spite of the horrible circumstances that surrounded him.
Do you think God would leave that faithful man wallowing in
a pit of despair for the rest of his days? I think not!
Considering the faithfulness I have witnessed personally
from my own trials, I have seen that God is One who bestows
a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness
instead of mourning and a garment of praise instead of
despair. God said that He will rebuild and restore the
places long devastated. Instead of shame, God’s people will
receive a double portion. Instead of disgrace they will
rejoice in their inheritance and everlasting joy will be
theirs.
(Is. 61:3-4; 7)
As for
Job, the Lord blessed his life more in the latter part than
the first. If Job described his steps in the beginning as
“being bathed with cream,” he must have been “slip sliding
away” the second half! We can also see that he and his wife
had 10 more children; all of them beautiful and his personal
possessions were restored to him in abundance. Job’s life
ended when he was 140 years old and he saw his children and
grandchildren up to the fourth generation! We can see from
Scripture that Job left a legacy for generations that came
afterwards by the good life that he lived and one which was
pleasing to God. I want to be pleasing to God, don’t you?
He has shown you, O man, what is good; and
what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love
mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?
Micah
6:8
Prayer:
Father, I come
to you this day thanking you and praising you for what
You’ve shown us in your Word. Thank You for every spiritual
lesson you teach us in order that we may know how to live
our lives to please You in every way. We want to live in
such a way that our lives bring praise and glory to Your
name. Help us to be a blessing to others as well because
You have taught us that with those sacrifices You are well
pleased. I ask these things in Your Son’s name. Amen.
For additional
study on pleasing God:
Deut. 13:4
2 Chron. 16:9
Ps. 119:33-38
Acts 5:29-32
James 4:13-17
Col. 1:10-12
Col. 3:20
1 Thess. 4:1-10
1 Tim. 2:1-4
1 Jn. 3:21-23
