What does it take to make God happy? What does it take to make a parent happy? Asking this question helps us answer the first question for our God has identified Himself as our Father Who is in heaven.
Our children make us happy simply by being who they are but our faces light up, become radiant, when they come to us to love on us, when they honor us before others, and when they do the right thing with our without our presence or encouragement. When children do good and are good they really make parents happy.
So does our Father in Heaven respond any differently to us? Those who are in Christ, who have been adopted by God through Christ as a result of their humble submission to Christ in repentance and the seeking of His forgiveness, have become children of God and are therefore a source of great joy to Him.
But how much more radiant does He become when we obey His commands and seek His glory in the world where men and demons live who deny, ignore and rebel against the Father of all?
Is our goal the pleasure of our God?
Should it be? Small children have a propensity to want to please their parents and bring them joy. This is why they are quick to show us their coloring and drawing. Why they feel bad when they have done wrong.
Depending upon the relationship a child maintains with his parents will determine for how long and to what degree that child wills to continue pursuing their parents pleasure.
Perhaps our failure to make pleasing God our highest priority is due to our lack of relationship with Him?
If there really is a God shouldn’t we live to please Him?
Two easy steps make bringing Him pleasure more consistent.
First, spend time with God reading the Bible and praying. This is the coming to Him to love on Him part of our relationship.
Second, whatever you see in the Scriptures as a command to obey, just do it. Make God bigger in your life by making Him more evident through your life.
Great joy has the Father when His children introduce Him to their friends by the things they do and the words they speak.
