“As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily” (Colossians 2:6–9).
“Say ‘Mama,’ Stella. ‘Mama!’”
“No, Stella. You can say ‘Daddy,’ better, can’t you! Say ‘Daddy’!”
Jimmy laughed at the expression on his baby sister’s face as she looked back and forth from her mom to her dad. “You guys are going to confuse her!” Jimmy said to his parents. “Stella’s going to come out with something like ‘Dama’ or ‘Maddy’ if you keep saying your names!”
Dad laughed too. “You’re right, Jimmy. We probably ought to give her brain a little break. We don’t want to make her dizzy just trying to make one of us happy.”
“True,” said Mom. “Besides, she doesn’t really have to say our names to please us. Both of us will love her whether she says our names or not!” Then Mom grinned. “But she’s going to say ‘Mama’ first!”
Do you ever get the feeling that there are too many people to please? Your siblings want you to share with them. Your friends want you to play with them. Your parents expect you to behave a certain way. Your teachers assign you projects and want you to listen in class. You might have chores to do, and family to visit, and pets to take care of. Have you ever thought about how many “rules” there are just for good manners? Saying “please,” saying “thank you,” holding a certain fork a certain way, chewing with your mouth closed, and the list goes on! Sometimes keeping track of all you have to do and say can become overwhelming!
Colossians 2:6–9 says that if our trust is in Christ Jesus the Lord, we ought to walk in a way that pleases Him. It says that all kinds of people have all kinds of opinions, and you might meet people who will try to spoil (ruin) you with their godless opinions and worthless ideas. But Christians ought to be rooted in Christ, living to please Him. This passage says that Christ is the fulness of the Godhead bodily, which means that Christ is God! He is the Creator. He is the Redeemer. He is the highest Authority, and all other authorities (like your parents and teachers) were put in their positions by Him! Christ is God. If your goal in life is to please God above everyone else, you will be obeying His Word. You can be sure that you will be doing what you ought to be doing!
Did you ever think about how God is really the only one we have to think about pleasing? Yes, of course, it is good to practice good manners and be concerned about other people. But ultimately, if we are growing in the knowledge of God’s Son and walking worthy of Christ, we can trust that we are living in a way that pleases Him. And God is the most important one to please. If we please God, we will usually make our parents and other people happy automatically.
God is the main one we have to be concerned about pleasing.
My response:
» Is my life pleasing God right now?
» How can I show that I am more concerned about pleasing God than about pleasing others?