Thoughts for another day

April 28, 2008

Today's verse: Eph. 5:10. Try to find out what is pleasing to the Lord. (NRSV)
(Pls. read the above before you read further. Thanks)

Has it ever occurred to you to try finding out what is pleasing to the Lord? At least in my case, this trying has been rather infrequent; that too among a very low count itself. I think and I ask, ‘is it difficult for me to find what is pleasing to the Lord?’ When you look at it, it isn’t no? Then why don’t I do it?

In thinking this, a shocking truth that emerges is our lack of inclination toward the Lord. Do we take pleasure in things that are His? Are we stimulated enough to be with Him and do what He wants us to do? I find in my own case, after much reflection, that the answer is no. My mind asks, why? To be honest I can’t answer for sure but I will try to look at this issue rather critically and with the help of the Spirit, gain an insight. While we are at it, it doesn’t mean that God cannot put us on track on the path we were destined to take…didn’t He make Saul, a great enemy of the earlier Christians, into a champion for the cause of Christ? And my request is, if you are not as what I write us to be, please don’t be offended.

I think our lackadaisical approach to God is but a reflection of how dear He is or is not to us. It may shock us to know the truth about our love for God – it hardly exists. I ask myself, do I really love God? And my eardrums echo with a reverberating no. Your and my purpose here on earth is something that God works out in us but in this work are we with Him? Do we assist Him in His plan or do we resist? Our reactions are generally based on how much we love Him deep inside of us, in our hearts. God said about David, ‘he is a man after my own heart’ and though David offended God, God still loved him and made him a great king.

Our hearts determine whatever we do vis-à-vis God. Take the offering of Cain and Abel; Cain offered, but his heart wasn’t in it and therefore God looked at Abel’s offering with favor. The question here is one of the heart and that determines all. I feel that whatever we are now, whether we love God enough or not, whether we are walking the straight path or not, whether the things of God please us or not, we are okay if our hearts are turned to God and deep inside, we know we exist for His glory - this even if our lives today are a far cry from what they actually should be.