I was just chatting with my brothers and sisters in #prosapologian, and I mentioned that at this time of year, as we contemplate the passing of another year, I could not provide better advice than this: that each and every believer should consider the past year in the light of these divine words:

Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him. (2 Cor. 5:9)
Walk as children of light, trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. (Eph 5:8, 10).

   Given my level of understanding of what is pleasing to the Lord, did I live a life that would be considered pleasing in His sight? It matters not what others say, I have but one I must seek to please first and foremost. So, who did I please most? My Lord, or my flesh? When I consider my thoughts, were they centered on Him, His purposes, His glory, His kingdom? Or were they mainly taken up with me, me, and more me? Do I see advancement since 2006? 2001?
   Further, how solid is my understanding of what is pleasing to Him? Is my understanding of the very standard to which I should aspire informed more by pop psychology and Christian psycho-babble than it is the inspired oracles of God Himself? And more to the heart of the matter, do I desire to keep “trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord”? Is this my heart’s desire? Do I pray for a heart of wisdom so that I may know with ever increasing clarity and accuracy what is, in fact, pleasing to Him, in every situation in my life? In my family, in my work, in my thoughts, my deeds, my words?
   Soon the rush of “resolutions” will pass over us. For the Christian, there is no question about the every day resolution: our ambition is to be pleasing to Him. What does that mean for your life in 2008? What does it mean for your life today?

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