Life Displeasing or Pleasing to God?


By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God. And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. 
Hebrews 11:5-6

The American sitcom FRIENDS was a craze for both my sister and myself. I am reminded of one scene wherein Joey and Chandler wait too long to buy Christmas gifts? They end up having to buy gifts from a gas station.

They give Rachael wiper blades and an air freshener. When Rachel reminds them that she does not even own a car, Joey says, "Well, now you can pretend you do!" 

One of the keys to a good relationship is knowing what kind of gift pleases the one you love. And this is true of our relationship with God as well. What pleases Him? That’s an important question. This verse for our meditation tells us what pleases Him.

v. 5 says “By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death … (for) before his being taken up he was he was pleasing to God.” This is what we were made for - to please God.

God is the One who created us. He dreamed us up in the beginning. We wouldn’t exist without Him. He formed us and shaped us and gave to each one of us life. Psalm 139 says He formed us in our mother’s womb. When He breathes into us the breath of life, we live. When He takes it away, we die. Our lives begin and end in Him, and during the whole of our life, we are accountable to Him. We are here on this earth to please God.

What we need to be reminded of is that we are not here just to please other people. This is the big mistake so many of us make by spending our whole lives trying to please other people. But the problem is, we can never do it. If we try to please one group, we are going to anger another. If we give in to one group, then we offend another. We simply cannot please everyone. In fact we can spend our whole life, running around endlessly in circles, and literally drive ourselves mad trying to please everybody. It's a fact that we cannot do it. We cannot please everybody!

God says the good news is, we don’t have to! That is not what we are here for. We are not here to please people. We are here to please God!

Now, if we were created to please God, then HOW do we do that? v. 6 gives us the answer. It says: “Without faith it is impossible to please Him.” So if you want to please God, the Bible says, you must have faith. Faith is God’s love language, or in other words the gift that pleases God.

What is this faith? Faith is not something that we just sit around and “dream up.” We don’t just decide, “I think I am going to trust God for this,” and believe it. Biblically, faith is always a response to the word of God. Look at the examples here in Hebrews 11: Noah, Abraham, Sarah and so on.

Biblical faith is NOT you just deciding to believe whatever you want, and “claiming it” from God. Biblical faith is when God tells us something in His word first, and then we respond to His word with faith and obedience.

All of the people we read about here in this great chapter, did something because of their faith:
v:4 Abel offered a sacrifice
v:5 Enoch walked with God
v:7 Noah built the ark
v:8 Abraham left his home and went to the land of promise
v:11 Sarah had a child
v:21 Jacob gave orders about his bones
v:24 Moses turned his back on the riches and power of Egypt
v:31 Rahab hid God’s spies to Jericho

Dear Friends, is our “faith” one thing, and our doing something else whether it be in our homes or place of work or ministry? Are we living out what we really believe, because there is no such thing as a faith that doesn’t do something. Faith acts.

This Lenten Season in the midst of the corona pandemic may we act on all that we said we believed for without this kind of faith it is impossible to please God.

God Bless You.


Location: Mallappally, Kerala, India

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