Pleasing God
For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves (emphasis mine) but for him who for their sake died and was raised.
2 Cor. 5:14-15
Pleasing God is capturing the heart of God by believing and obeying his Word not because you ought to but because you want to. Living with an eye toward making God’s heart glad is a heart that pleases God ( 1 J0hn 3:22).
Isn’t it true that the vast majority of Christians in our churches are simply living on this principle. They are pleasing themselves. They please themselves whether they go to church once or twice on Sunday. They please themselves whether they go to prayer meetings or not. They please themselves whether they read their Bible or not. They please themselves concerning the stewardship of their money. They are exactly like Esau (Heb. 12:16). He did exactly what he wanted; and we are doing the same. You remember how different our Lord was in his attitude. ‘My meat is to do the will of Him that sent me. (John 4:34 KJV).’
George B. Duncan, “So Much Lost For So Little,†Daily Thoughts from Keswick: A Year’s Daily Readings, ed. Herbert F. Stevenson (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1980), 344.
