August 10, 2010

HE PLEASED NOT HIMSELF

Scripture Reading

Romans 15:3--"For even Christ pleased not himself; but, as it is written, The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me."

1 John 3:22--"And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight."

The Scriptures contain certain "unexplainables" no human being will ever truly comprehend.  Certainly one of them is the combination of humanity and deity we find in Jesus Christ.  Though He was God, Jesus gave us a tremendous example of how believers ought to live.

As a man, Jesus lived to please God, His Heavenly Father.  The words of the Father Himself make this truth clear.  At Jesus' baptism, the Father said, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased" ( Matt. 3:17b ).  In Matthew 17:5, the Father repeated that statement on the Mount of Transfiguration.  While Jesus was here on earth, He lived with His Father's total approval.  His attitudes, actions, words, and thoughts made His Father happy.  As a child, a teenager, and then an adult, He sought His Father's pleasure.

When I was a high school basketball player, I fouled out of the fourth quarter of a key game.  Disgusted, I started for the bench and looked into the stands for my father, seeking his approval.  He wasn't smiling, and I knew he wasn't pleased.  We lost the game, and I didn't play well.  Worse, I disappointed someone I really wanted to please.  For me, my father's smile, whether present or absent, was the indicator of how well I had done.

Would the way you are living now bring a smile to your Heavenly Father's face?  Would anything about your life cause Him to frown?  These simple questions have a special way of telling us whether the Father is pleased.

EXERCISE:  Play a game.  Ask your children to name activities they do sometimes.  Without speaking, Dad should smile or frown to let them know whether he is pleased.

--Tom Palmer--