Living to Please God
How you ought to live and please God. (I Thess. 4:1)
I Thess. 4:1-9 and 2:4; Prov. 16:7; Eph. 6:6; II Tim. 2:21; Heb. 11:5
What Is God Saying?
Paul's communication with the Christians in Thessalonica was to encourage, encourage, encourage. Paul breathed the breath of life into this church during his stay there en route from Philippi to Athens. Paul was in this bustling crossroads city for just a short time. Yet, ministering mainly to Gentiles. He was intensely active. The enemies of the Gospel said he ‘turned the world upside down’ (Acts 17:6).
When the Gospel is faithfully preached, it is often angrily opposed. The opposition was determined to silence the Gospel and those who held it dear. ‘Shamefully treated,’ and ‘in the face of great opposit10n’ (I Thess. 2:2); these were the words that described Paul's encounter with those who feared and even hated the Gospel. The same animus was bound to continue in his absence. Despite all that and sustained by the hope of the Lord's return (I Thess. 4:13-18), Paul calls upon the Christians in this new Church to give their whole attention to ‘how they ought to live and to please God.’ The best defense is a convincing life. Don't defend God, please Him. God will take care of the future, trust Him now. ‘Hold fast to the good’ now (5:21); ‘live quietly’ now; ‘work with your own hands’ now (4:11 ). ‘He who calls you is faithful, and He will do it’ (5:24).
How Does This Apply To Us?
We are still waiting for the return of our Lord Jesus. There is still the temptation to give in rather than to hold on. There is still opposition to those who declare the Gospel of God's Grace. Amid widespread moral laxness, we need to remember that God's blueprint is best. His plan for real living is clear. The Word (written in the Scriptures and modeled in the living Word, Jesus Christ) shows us how ‘we ought to live and please God.’ Make the choice. To live to please oneself is a dead-end street. No outlet. No future. No arriving. No fulfilment. Let us turn around in the cul-de-sac of self while we still can.
Pray With Me
Lord, life is Your gift to me. The way I live that life is my gift to you. Help me to turn over to You both my life and the manner of my life. I must come to see that how I live is even more important than that I live. I must give you my life not in words easily spoken but in deeds faithfully done. Anything less would be unworthy of my high calling in Christ. Anything less would keep me from rising to the potential of Your full purpose for my life.
Remembering that my life has been claimed again and purchased back, I must also remember that there is a way to invest it that will please You, and there is a way that can only bring You pain. I love You, Lord, and I want to please You. In Your mercy, let me learn how I ought to live. Along that path of obedient trust, I would discover the joy of pleasing God. Nothing could ever compare with Your, ‘Well done.’ No glittering reward should ever entice me away from seeing Your smile. No lesser goal, no lesser good, no lesser god could ever fill my heart with the satisfaction I know when I practice the Presence of God.
There is a way to live that pleases You. Let it be before me as the ‘path of the righteous (which) is like the light of dawn, shining brighter and brighter until full day.’ Until that full day, I would live as I ought to please the Lord Whom I love.
In the all-sufficient grace of Jesus Christ, my Lord. Amen.
Moving On In The Life of Prayer
In prayer, am I more inclined to use the phrase, ‘Please, God,’ than to ask, ‘What can I do or be to please God?’ If the former comes much more frequently than the latter, we are heading toward a barren and boring prayer life. How is it with your prayer life? Do you need to change your focus? Go ahead, pray, ‘Please, God,’ but don't miss the joy of going deeper and farther, asking, ‘How should I live to please God?’ Then see how prayer comes alive!
