“Not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, with goodwill doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men.” Ephesians 6: 6-7
“Why do you act the way you do?”
This question is capable of drilling to the very depths of our intentions. What is the reason for anything that we do? Hold that thought. Don’t answer this just yet. Let’s go on a journey and when we return, you’ll answer it yourself.
Today, we live in a society where people think that the number of likes, comments and followers one gets on a post equals one’s worth and means much more than what God says about the person. Yet, this is largely false. Our worth as believers comes from what God says about us.
We are far from being ordinary. We are called to this world to be light and salt, no matter where we find ourselves (Matthew 5: 13-16). Walking in this consciousness should spur us to please God, and not men, in all that we do. Apostle Paul knew this much, and that is why in our anchor scripture, he explicitly spells it out that we should be God-pleasers and not men-pleasers because we are bond-servants of Christ doing the will of God from our hearts (Ephesians 6: 6-7).
Let us consider Daniel. A man who despite working close with King Darius, worshipped God three times a day and never stopped doing that, not even when the king made a decree that no one should serve any other god but him for the next 30 days. Daniel was thrown into the lion’s den but survived because he chose to please God above men (Daniel 6: 1-25).
Another worthy consideration is the three Hebrew boys in Babylon. Similarly, they lived to the glory of God and not men, so they refused to bow down to the graven image made by the king, even with the impending danger of being thrown into a fiery furnace (Daniel 3:16-28).
What these two stories have in common are men who knew their God, lived for Him and pleased Him above everybody else. And one lesson stands out – Whenever you please God above pleasing men, God shows up for you, delivers you from difficult situations, and makes a name for Himself with your life. And even if He doesn’t, He is still worth the allegiance.
Now that we’ve gone on this rollercoaster ride of a journey, the question still awaits you. Why do you act the way you do? Take some time off today to answer this question for yourself. It would be helpful if you put down your answer in a journal as a reminder for the future.
Bible Reading Plan:
John 10:1-10, 1 John 2:12-17, Job 10, Ezekiel 29-30