May 13: Who Do You Want to Please?

“If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.” Luke 9:23

To recognize in one’s own heart a sincere desire to follow the Lord Jesus is to see, with spiritual eyes, a heavenly gift. This is a beautiful starting point for the soul who has never walked with the Lord or the one who has wandered away from Him. Going forward, each day thereafter may begin thus, for each day is a gift. Picture the gift sitting there, waiting to be noticed. It may be mysteriously wrapped, but as I look to Jesus and begin to step into the spiritual light that He gives in His word, He will cause the wrapping to fall away, revealing opportunities for me to deny [my]self which, when followed out of love for Him, will have the effect of renewing strength, focus, and energy.

There is a difference between executing tasks out of a sense of duty and carrying them out as a result of spontaneous love for the Lord Jesus. A sense of duty is not necessarily a bad thing, but unless it is fueled by resurrection power it is devoid of what we might call “contagious enthusiasm,” and crippled as to the possibility of issuing winsome invitations for others to taste and see that the LORD is good (Psalm 34:8).

And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord…  Colossians 3:23

The lowliest and most mundane task can reveal the glory of the Lord Jesus when it is done with excellence and a sincere heart that is right before Him. The Lord looks upon our hearts. The motivation behind what we do throughout the day is what He sees. The heart condition is plain to Him. This is why Jesus spoke prophetically to paint a picture of two people apparently doing the very same thing, but one is lost and the other saved (Matthew 24:39-41, Luke 17:34-37). This side-by-side view highlights the essential necessity of responding in humble obedience and love to the One who loved us first. Any actions carried out to impress others with our own “righteousness” is actually a show of contempt toward the God Who Sees (Genesis 16:13), because it reveals to Him that the opinions of others are actually held in higher esteem than the desire to please the Lord Himself. This is making an idol of others’ opinions.

“When we do something out of a sense of duty, it is easy to explain the reasons for our actions to others. But when we do something out of obedience to the Lord, there can be no other explanation—just obedience. That is why a saint can be so easily ridiculed and misunderstood.” Oswald Chambers

We love Him because He first loved us. 1 John 4:19

Love begets love! This is the truth behind the mystery of having an exclusive relationship with our Lord. There is no other “fuel” that has the power to bring out the very best in each of us.

…that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love and attaining to all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the knowledge of the mystery of God, both of the Father and of Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Now this I say lest anyone should deceive you with persuasive words.  Colossians 2:2-4