WE MUST PLEASE OUR FATHER.
WE MUST PLEASE OUR FATHER.
While growing up, I always wanted to do things that would make my parents proud of me. I remember once when I transformed a bare space into a cafétaria, I invited my dad, who was an architect, to come and take a look at the work I had done. He was very pleased with me and he did not hesitate to say how proud he was of what I had made of the place. And spontaneously, he began to pronounce blessings upon me. This was my earthly father’s response to something I did that pleased him.
Incidentally, that is exactly like my Heavenly Father. After all, the apple does not fall far from the tree. Our Heavenly Father wants us to please Him. Of a truth it is delightful to God when we do things that please Him.
Please come with me as we look at some people who pleased God and also how God rewards those who please Him.
Abraham pleased God. He trusted God and left his home country to a place he knew nothing of in trust that God would take care of him. He crowned that trust by his willingness to obey when God asked him to take his son Isaac to be sacrificed. That was a test of his faith and it was pleasing to God. And God rewarded him. “This is what the LORD says: Because you have obeyed me and have not withheld even your son, your only son, I swear by my own name that I will certainly bless you. I will multiply your descendantsa beyond number, like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will conquer the cities of their enemies. And through your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed—all because you have obeyed me.” Genesis 22:16 – 18 NLT
There is no doubt that obedience pleases God. No amount of sacrifice can make up for it. “But Samuel replied: “Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.” 1 Samuel 15:22 NIV
Another person who pleased God was David the king. David had many flaws and some of them are splashed accross the pages of scripture like his adulterous relationship with Bathseba and the murder of her husband Uriah. But God’s ways are not our ways. In spite of all these, God still referred to David as “A man after God’s own heart.” David was completely sold out to God. He was devoted to God. David brought absolutely everything before God. He did not mask anything; he bared all to God knowing he could trust God with anything and everything. This pleased God. God wants us to take off every mask when we come to Him. He knows everything about us any way so what do we even think we can hide from Him? He is the all seeing.
Ruth, a Moabitess, was another person who pleased God when she devoted herself to her mother in-law, Naomi and gave up house and home to follow Naomi and to worship Naomi’s God, the One true God of Israel. She left behind comfort and uncertainty and her sacrifice was greatly rewarded as she was recorded in the genealogy of our LORD and Saviour, Jesus Christ.
We should read about the testimonies of others like Noah, Enoch, Moses and Hannah, to mention just a few.
All these ones pleased God by their obedience by their faith and by their trust in Him. We too can do the same. “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” Hebrews 11:6 NIV
Another way to please God is to praise Him always. “I will praise God’s name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving. This will please the LORD more than an ox, more than a bull with its horns and hooves.” Psalm 69:30-31 NIV King David was a man of praise. He praised God on all kinds of musical instruments that he had made for worship. Without any doubt God is pleased with us when we come to Him with praise and thanksgiving.
Dear friends, whatever we do let us work to please God. Because I found the best promise of all for those who please God.
“To the person who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.” Ecclesiastes 2:26 NLT
LET GOD BE PLEASED WITH YOU!
OLUYINKA EGO-MARTINS ©