Devotional Index

March Devotional

I Thess. 4:1

1Thess 4:1 — Furthermore then we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more.

The Apostle Paul, here in I Thessalonians, wanted to challenge the believers living at that time to "please God." He assured them of his conviction that this type of action/attitude toward their Creator should be a primary focus in their lives, and that this type of action/attitude should be overflowing in their lives.

How does mankind "please God?" Can we actually do something that will make our Creator happy? Can we have a heart attitude that God looks down and smiles upon? Are we capable as human beings to connect with God in such a way that he is pleased with our actions/attitudes?

Let me share with you a few ways that God is pleased:

• God is pleased when we enter into a personal relationship with Him through His Son, Jesus Christ. Christ came to this earth to "seek and to save that which was lost." When we turn from our sins, trusting in Christ alone for forgiveness, God is pleased!
• God is pleased when those who have entered into a personal relationship with him, seek to do his will. That is the thrust of the passage before us in I Thessalonians. Out of love for the Savior, it should be our consuming desire to find out his will (through His Word), and seek to do it with all of our heart!
• God is also pleased when we hold life sacred as He does. It is a sad commentary on our time that our society views human life in such low esteem.
• But when individuals and nations decide to hold precious the sanctity of human life, it pleases God.

A final question: Are we pleasing God?

—Pastor Rob Spurgeon
Calvary Baptist Church, Kaukauna, WI
Board Member, Assurance Women's Center, Appleton