Pleasing God?
Saying “I’m a Christian,” attending services at a Christian church, even leading Christian bible studies etc., these activities do not make us Christians, unless they are what God is telling us to do. Being a Christian is singularly about being a follower of Jesus Christ. If we want to share His name, we must share His beliefs and practices. We need also share His convictions, His obedience and His desire to please The Father. Pleasing God should be our first thought every morning and our last thought before sleep. OMG shouldn’t be an acronym of surprise or an abbreviation of amazement, it’s an instinctive utterance of love. Are you thinking, yikes, is this even possible, does anybody really do this? How can I please God and still live my life? The better question is; how can we live our lives to please God?
Being a disciple of this extraordinarily kind, loving and selfless man we call Christ, isn’t really a chore, it’s an honor. Being obedient however, is tough. Many of us have been in situations, where we are working or having fun, entertaining, experiencing some reward of life, and wham … tragedy or hardship strikes us or near us. In the deepest recesses of our soul, a voice whispers … it’s time to do our work. John 14:31, “but the world must learn that I love the Father and that I do exactly what my Father has commanded me. Come now let us leave.” When that voice whispers, all the alarm bells should go off. Picture a firefighter, responding to an alarm, everything else must be put on hold to answer the call. Not every call from God however is an emergency, but the whispers continue. To serve our neighbors, we were given 2 ears, 1 voice, 2 shoulders, 2 hands and 1 back. But most importantly we have 1 heart to care enough to guide the rest of our bodies in service. Each whisper to serve is a request from God. Our world has other priorities and I’m not suggesting shirking those responsibilities, what I am suggesting is a careful reallocation of our lives. Of the 24 hours available to us each day, work our 8, sleep our 8 and reallocate some part of the other 8 toward pleasing the one who’s given so much to and for us. Bury selfish and embrace selfless, love our neighbors by helping to answer the calls. This is what we’ve been created to do. Not for our recognition or appreciation, but simply to honor our chosen leader. He’s shown us how to please the Father, while opening so many doors of opportunity.
JC Calkins with COMMON SENSE 4 UNCOMMON PEOPLE
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