Please God

Colossians 1:9b-12 “We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of His will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please Him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to His glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of His holy people in the kingdom of light.”

It was once explained to me that “life is a learning experience”; a combination of using our intellect, teachings, trainings, observations, readings, and good old trial and error, we gain knowledge and associated wisdom to improve ourselves in this journey through this specific time and place on planet Earth in which we were born into. It is said that we only know in the range of 10% about the Universe in which we exist. There is so much to learn that you could never know it all. The same is true with our spiritual walk with the Almighty Lord, our Creator God, who made and sustains the Universe. We learn from and grow in both physical and spiritual knowledge by what is revealed to us by our heavenly Father. Everyone is uniquely gifted by our Maker and blessed with individual personalities and talents in order to produce the variety which is the spice of life and brings glory to God in the process.

The first question of the Westminster Shorter Catechism is: “What is the chief end of man?”, to which the answer is: “Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.” Glorifying God is the foundational purpose of every man, woman and child because that goal is what drivers and guides the direction and manner in which we live a life pleasing in the eyes of the Lord. Acts 17:25a-28a tells us, “[God] is not served by human hands, as if He needed anything. Rather, He himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. From one man He made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and He marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek Him and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him, though He is not far from any one of us. ‘For in Him we live and move and have our being.’” 

Genesis 1:1, 31 “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day.” Everything was made by Creator God and has a purpose. Psalm 19:1 proclaims, ”The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork.” Order and natural laws of science exist in the Cosmos. The planet is anthropomorphic (in the perfect position in the solar system and galaxy with the perfect arrangement of elements to support human life). Romans 1:20 states, “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse. The fingerprints of God are everywhere and on everything … if you look. 

As we near Thanksgiving Day this month, we have much to be thankful to God for. Instead of asking our heavenly God: “please God, give me this or that”, we should be asking: “how can I please God?” Stop and smell the roses. Count your many blessings every day. Live a life pleasing in the eyes of God. God so loves the world that He gave, gives and will give. In God We Trust.

In Christ, Brian