Aiming to Please the Lord
I come before the Lord each morning to correct that misalignment and get on board once again with what He wants for me.
I want to please my Lord and Savior Jesus every single day. It's not because I think this will grant me salvation. I believe that eternal life has been gifted to me by the grace of God and through my faith in Christ alone (see Eph. 2:8-9). Jesus has already saved me through His death on the cross. I need not add anything to the precious work that He has done. But as a person who has already been saved by Christ, there exists a deep desire in me to please and serve my Lord. I want my life to be a good reflection of the kind of relationship I have with Him. If we are friends with Jesus, shouldn't that come out in some way through our lives? I don't please God out of obligation. It's a delight and an honor to do so. I love Christ so much that I simply want to do His will and live the kind of life that He would want of me. And I trust that God's ways are so much better for me than my own ways.
But pleasing Jesus every single day is harder than it looks. I can arrive to each day with competing values and priorities. I can be pulled in multiple directions throughout the day. My spiritual nature engages in battle against my worldly nature frequently (see Gal. 8:5). I sometimes even unintentionally overlook what my purpose here on earth is: to worship and serve my Lord in the way He desires. It can get lost in the many things that I have to do in a day.
One of the things that helps me remember to please God during my day is to reorient myself to the Lord and His values each morning. I dedicate some time before my workday begins to be with the Lord and meditate on what He desires for my life. I realign myself once again on Him and His will. And that's important because depending on what may have occurred the day before, my life might be a little bit misaligned. I come before the Lord each morning to correct that misalignment and get on board once again with what He wants for me.
Paul said in his second letter to the Corinthians, "So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him" (2 Cor. 5:9 ESV). When Paul talked about "home" and "away" in this verse, he was referring to being on earth and being in heaven. Whether he was going to stay on earth or be brought to heaven, Paul made it his continual aim to please God. Are we likewise aiming to please God with our lives every day? We don't just please God by accident. We have to be intentional about wanting to please God every day or it can get lost in the myriad of things we need to do.
So, on most mornings, I'm intentional about spending time with the Lord in order to reorient my life with His priorities. I set my sights once again to please Him in everything. Although it's hard to predict what will happen during the day that could divert my focus, I give myself the best possible chance to live for God throughout the day if I started with Him and aimed my sights to please Him and do His will.
Barnabas the Monastic
Servant of Christ. Husband. Dad. Modern Monastic. I have a wild ambition in life: get as close to the Lord Jesus Christ as I can while on earth. I explore and integrate ancient Christian monk wisdom in modern everyday life. Lives in Canada.
