Do you know how to please God? I used to think that I had this all figured out. I read my Bible. I prayed. I fasted. I went to church. I did all the “stuff” God wanted me to do, right? Imagine my surprise when I found out that none of my efforts were what pleased God! I began to understand that what I was doing was trying to earn my own righteousness by doing my own works. I was spending a lot of time and effort trying to earn something that was already mine because Jesus is awesome! Hebrews 4:10 says “for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their own works, just as God did from His.” The “works” that are being talked about here are not the things we do in this natural world to earn money or take care of others. If we all rested from those works, a whole lot of stuff would fall apart. The works here are talking about religious works. Doing things trying to please God or make ourselves more righteous. Basically, saying that the cross wasn’t enough, and we need to put in our own efforts to get the job done.
“May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world,” Galatians 6:14.
When Jesus took us to the cross to be crucified with Him, His work was perfect. It needs nothing added to it! Isaiah 64:6 says that “all our righteous acts are filthy rags.” He alone makes us righteous! And now we are hidden with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3). When the Father looks at us, all He sees is Jesus! He doesn’t see any sin or anything unpleasant. So what can we really do to please God? REST. We need to stop trying to do it on our own. We can believe that He sees us how the Bible says He does. When we believe that He already loves and accepts us, those things that were once “works” to earn something from Him become something new. Now we can read our Bible for the pure enjoyment of it. We don’t HAVE to pray, we GET to pray! It becomes recognized as a privilege and a joy instead of a chore. We find a new freedom to enjoy being with God, instead of striving to figure out how to make Him happy with us. God is in a good mood! He loves to be with you. Enjoy Him!
