Learning more about God intrigues me: his nature, his heart, and all. Just this week a Facebook discussion explored how God gives us pleasure, which at a minimum means pleasure can be very good. Yes, we can misuse it, but at the core, experiencing pleasure is a grace touch from our Lord. I opened my Online Bible concordance to discover what HE says about it. I found around 80 mentions of mankind and God and pleasure.
So being who I am, I flipped the coin from the discussion, of God pleasing us, to the reverse. Do we please God? How? Should we? The two were pretty evenly divided. One example comes from Exodus 3:17, “And the LORD said to Moses, ‘I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name.’” Or, Moses pleased God, and in response, God granted his prayer request. Hmmmm. But an even more significant result of pleasing God is we know him better. Hmmmm.
That brought to mind the classic 1981 film “Chariots of Fire,” when Eric Liddell’s sister upbraided him for running competitively instead of training to be a missionary and he replied, “God made me fast. And when I run, I feel his pleasure.” We please God when we use his gifts well. We please God when, like Moses, we obey. We please God when we say yes to him. When we say no to temptation. When we graciously tell others about him. When we sacrifice for others. When we express love to all, especially to our enemies and opponents. The list could go on, but honestly, I suspect we all have a pretty good idea of what brings a smile or a frown to God.
The question may be, would we rather please ourselves or please him? Doesn’t that go to the very heart of following Jesus? Now, here’s the kicker. We can please ourselves and displease God, in which case, we lose despite our initial pleasure. Or we can first choose to please him, and gain the results of answered prayer and knowing him. That’s when we both win.
Kick Starting the Application
Do you often think of intentionally pleasing God? If not, do you think it might be worth a shot? When is the last time you felt God’s pleasure? What brought it? What is one act or attitude you can do this week that is likely to please him. Will you do it?