Do I Please God?

I have spent the better part of today dealing with paperwork, bills, an orthodontist appointment, getting ready for a couple of meetings, and all of the other things that go along with serving as an administrator in a Christian school. I leave in one week on a project in India that Christ's Church began about 5 years ago. (I will share about that trip when I return.) I have literally run from one appointment to the next, while text messaging, e-mailing and calling people on my phone as I wait in traffic or somewhere else. I'm sure that most of you can relate to the feelings that often accompany the hustle and bustle of the day. In my case today, it was mostly a frantic feeling of being rushed and behind.

However, in the middle of all of that, there was a small window of about 15 minutes where I was waiting for the next thing, and I found myself sitting in an office waiting to meet with someone, with nothing to do. I left my phone in the car, which means my calendar, e-mail, voicemail, internet, iTunes, stock quotes, camera, and whatever else it can do that I haven't figured out yet were all with it. That is why I had that 15 minutes. I was literally unplugged for a time. The only distraction was the music playing in the office as I waited. I had upcoming meetings on my mind, but I found myself just thinking about my day so far.

I wish that I could say that I sense God speaking clearly to me on a regular basis. But this morning, one question was quietly on my mind: Have I pleased God today? If so, how? If not, why? As I recalled the morning, I wasn't sure. A quote from Jesus came to my mind from the book of John, Chapter 5 verse 30. Jesus was commenting to some of his critics when he said, "by myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgement is just, for I seek not to please myself but Him who sent me." So how did Jesus please the Father? By doing His will.

So what is the will of God? How do we please Him? I went to my car and grabbed a notepad and began to write down those things that I know please God. This is obviously not an exhaustive list, but it does represent those things that I hope I will always seek to do, that our staff at MCS will always strive for, and that our families will join us as we partner together to please our Father in Heaven.

Here are some of the things that I believe scripture indicates are pleasing to God. They are not necessarily in any particular rank or order of importance, but as they came to my mind...though I think we will all identify some as higher than others:
1. Caring for those in need
2. Sharing the hope of Christ with everyone you can
3. Loving God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength
4. Obeying God's commands in scripture
5. Giving glory to God
6. Seeking first the Kingdom of God
7. Teaching our children God's ways
8. Turning from sin
9. Humbling ourselves
10. Serving others
11. Loving our enemies
12. Becoming a true disciple and follower of Jesus Christ

I finished writing these twelve things down in my notebook, and was praying as I was called in for my meeting. I want to spend more time thinking about this concept of pleasing God daily.

I hope that each day we will seek to please God. I know that there are many other things that please God. What are some of the ideas that come to your mind? I would love to hear from you about what you believe pleases our Heavenly Father.

I look forward to learning more in this area in the coming weeks.

Have a great day!