Purpose To Please God

Bringing Meaning to Your Life

By William R. Cunningham
March 19, 2006

Scripture lesson

Hebrews 11:6 (NKJV) -- {6} But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

Introduction

What should I do now that I’m saved?  That is the million dollar question.  We could easily get caught up in a plethora of religions and methodologies in an attempt to do something worthy of God’s approval.  We now believe in Jesus Christ (or so we profess), but we are still not sure what we should do.  All are not apostles, teachers, preachers, evangelists, etc.  All are not going to be Sunday school teachers or even work in ministry.  So what should you do with your life now that you are saved?  The preachers worked hard and long trying to get you to see and understand the gospel and so that you would respond to that Gospel and be saved.  You’ve responded, but now what do you do.

Here is where the problem comes into play as I alluded to above.  Many people and organizations have an answer to this.  Some may tell you that you must go to church and live a holy life.  Others may tell you that you have to study the Bible and be ready to give an answer to those who ask you for the reason for your faith (1 Peter 3:15).  Still others will hand you a list of do’s and don’ts that you should follow to be a “good Christian.”  There are so many takes on living life after the day of regeneration that your head may spend.

One could spend a lifetime trying to find the right way so to speak.  One could spend the rest of his days trying to live right and be a good Christian.  The unfortunate thing here is that all such efforts really take us away from the one thing that would really make a difference.  We are so busy trying to follow the rules that we neglect to move towards the one that would cause us to live right so to speak.  We don’t draw near to God (James 4:8).

We neglect to pursue a path of pleasing God.  If we would purpose to please God after we are saved then we would find that our lives would be much more fulfilling and that we would have a greater sense of meaning in our lives.  We neglect to pursue God because we are so busy trying to follow what men and women have to say.

For example, I was listening to a minister speak the other day.  He was talking about some things pertaining to the Bible.  He commented at one point on the phrase in Revelation where it says, “I will wipe the tears from their eyes.”  I have to stop and comment on this.  Let’s read Revelation 7:17 so you have an idea of what I’m talking about.

Revelation 7:17 (NKJV) -- {17} for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

Now this minister (pastor) said that he believes that these were crying because of regret.  He said that the reason they were crying is because they realized how they had not pleased the Lord all that they could.  The truth hit them at the judgment and they realized how much they fell short in their lives and how Jesus was displeased with them, which resulted in their despair and thus crying.  However, God would wipe those tears away from their eyes as they move on to be with Him for all eternity.

I very much disagree with this.  First of all it is only speculation that he brings this out.  There was no other source text or principles from the Bible that supported this pastor’s views.  However, he sounded so authoritative that you would think that he definitely knew what he was talking about.  However, consider the following verse.

Revelation 21:4 (NKJV) -- {4} And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”

It appears to me that the tears were due to the pain and suffering in the former life.  It appears to me that God would wipe away the tears that resulted from their previous life (living) on earth with all of the sin, agony, despair, etc.  It also looks more like the word tears is used as a euphemism and shouldn’t be taken literally, though perhaps we all will cry because of this stressful life on earth.

One would think that the pastor mentioned above was correct.   However, if we don’t pursue God instead of blindly listening to men then we could easily fall into a false sense of security and false sense of the meaning of our lives and what God wants us to do.

My point in all this could be summarized by something Jesus Christ said.

Matthew 6:33 (NKJV) -- {33} But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

Seek God first.  We can’t go wrong within the realm of pleasing God.  If we were to purposely please God then we would have a much better outlook on life than if we try to please people or the precepts of a particular organization.  Let’s discuss purposely pleasing God.

Saved, But Still Annoyed

There is nothing is scripture that I’m aware of at this time that suggest that our entire outlook on life and disposition on life immediately changes when we are saved.  So if something annoyed you before you were saved then perhaps it still annoys you.  If you really don’t like someone before you are saved then you probably won’t like them immediately after you are saved (this disposition could change over time, but I’m talking about immediate transformations).

You may have habits and idiosyncrasies before saved that remain after you are saved.  How do you change?  What are the motivations for you to pursue a path that would be acceptable to God?  Besides, how do you know what path to take in the first place?  It’s all a process, my friend.  It’s a process for the most part.

Let me show you this way.  Haven’t you had a situation where you know you should “be nice” to someone, but really didn’t feel like it.  Haven’t you had a situation at least once in your life where you had the opportunity to help someone that you really didn’t want to help or that you really wanted to “get even” with?  What do you do (assuming you are saved)?  Should you return evil for evil, try to hurt the person when he or she is down, or help that person or treat them with respect and do for him or her what you can?  Why should you be nice to that person?   We ask hat question or similar types of questions like that many times I’m sure.

Well instead of doing something nice for the other person’s sake or to fulfill the guidelines handed down to you by your religious organization then why not do it to please God.  Why not do a righteous act because you know that God would be pleased with something else?  Do you see what I mean?  Your motivation now is not following the rules, but to please the Lord.  The driving force behind your actions is now heavenly oriented instead of earthly or self-oriented.  Your objective now is to please the one that saved you and keeps you.  Your life is now to please the Lord.

Pleasing God

I therefore submit to you today that you should pursue God.  Purpose to please God and allow that to motivate you to do the things that you probably would not do.  Think how you could please the Lord over and above yourself or others.  Consider the following Scripture.

Hebrews 11:6 (NKJV) -- {6} But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
This one verse of scripture summarizes the motivation of your life and how to do it.

1. Please God
2. Faith leads to pleasing God

Paul plainly says that we cannot please God without faith.  He then gives us illustrations on how this works.

1. By faith Abel offered God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain
2. By faith Enoch was translated so that he wouldn’t die
3. By faith Noah built the ark by God’s commands
4. By faith Abraham left his home
5. By faith Abraham offered Isaac to God

What is the relationship between faith and pleasing God?  That is the million dollar question.  However, it is quite straight forward if we understood more precisely what faith is.  Our idea of faith is tainted by our own lusts and most assuredly by what we are told in the religious community (the Word of Faith movement for example).  Look at what Paul says about faith.

Hebrews 11:1 (NKJV) -- {1} Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Faith is typically turned into some type of force that we can use to get what we want from God.  However, we notice that the illustrations that Paul gives have nothing to do with that.  The illustrations that Paul gives have all to do with lifestyle issues and the resulting activities of those lifestyles. 

The word faith in this scripture (Greek pistis) could mean faith in Jesus Christ for salvation, belief, trust (I have faith in you), trustworthiness (you can put your faith in him), confidence (I have faith in John to do this), and fidelity (He is a faithful husband).  When we look at the illustrations that Paul gave us then we find that they all had a degree of reliance on and confidence in God.

One could say that because of Abel’s faith in God that he offered a more excellent sacrifice than Cain.  Because of Enoch’s faithfulness to God that he was taken up and didn’t see death.  Noah’s confidence in God was so great that he built the ark.  Abraham’s trust and fidelity in and to God were so great that he left his home land and offered up Isaac as a sacrifice.  Do you see? 

The faith that these people had in God spawned faith-motivated acts that pleased God.  Of course they all had a personal relationship with God.  You can’t have faith in God without a personal relationship.  Anyway, faith leads us to a life that is pleasing to God.  This is a more personal road in that it transcends your religious affiliations or church denominations.  This forces you to be accountable to God and to pursue a path that would personally please God and thus bring meaning and fulfillment to your life.

Practical Steps

How can we please God during every-day life?  What does God want us to do?  Seek to please the Lord.  Be motivated by your relationship with God and your desire to please Him.  Remember that God said; through the Apostle Paul that He is a rewarded to those that diligently seek Him.  So be motivated by your desire to please God and know that God will reward you for it.

We have all kinds of clues in the Bible as to what would please the Lord.  Remember that the Bible is the revelation of God to us.  God shows us how He is and what He expects.  Here are some things that I noticed that come up many times in the Bible.

1. Care for the widows, orphans, and homeless (Ex. 22:22; Deut. 24:17; Deut 26:12; Isaiah 1:27; Deut. 10:18; Ps 10:14; 68:5; 146:9; Prov. 15:25; Jer 49:11
2. Giving to others (Luke 6:38; Romans 15:1; 2 Corinthians 9:7)
3. Doing what God says (Ecclesiastes 12:13)
4. Forgiving (Matthew 18:21-22; Mark 11:25; Luke 17:4; Ephesians 4:32)
5. Actively pursuing God (Matthew 6:33; 22:37)
6. Going beyond the call of duty (Matthew 5:41)
7. Love others
8. An honest days work
9. Being honest

The main thing here is to live your life in obedience to God, which is a result of your faith in Him.  Learn from the Bible and do it.  Don’t be just hearers, but practice what you learn from the scriptures.  Allow the way of God to permeate your life and transform you.
You put your faith in Jesus Christ and now allow faith to run your life so to speak.  Be motivated by your allegiance, trust, confidence, and fidelity to God.  Instead of saying, “I don’t feel like being nice to him” or something to that effect, then instead say, “It will please God if I’m nice to this person so I will do it.”  Do you see how the motivation shifts?

So please God in what you do.  Make a specific effort to please God.  Of course in order to really please God we must know God (have a relationship with Him).  Think about the things that you do in your life.  Ask yourself whether or not those things please God.  If not then get yourself on a path of transformation.  You may not get it done right away, but at least you are on the road to recovery so to speak.

Please God in what you do.  Make your life an object of pleasure for God.  Be transformed such that your life is pleasing to the Lord.  Amen.