Monday, May 6, 2013

Daily Life, Part 3

Continuing our look at our daily life and how it is pleasing to God, today I want to dive into something a little more mundane.  A couple of posts ago, I wrote that we don't have to go on mission trips to the ends of the earth in order to live a God-pleasing life.  God is, first of all, pleased with our lives when we are found in Christ Jesus.  As we live the new life that Jesus has given us, we are pleasing in the sight of God.

As a second angle, God is also pleased as we live according to His design and desire for life.  It's not on the same "level" as when our lives are found in Christ, and yet, God takes pleasure in that life anyhow.  But today, I want to bring it even closer to home.  We may wonder how our lives can be pleasing in God's eyes as we go about our daily lives.  Today's post is dedicated to that thought.

Follow me, if you will, through just a brief part of your day.  You wake up in the morning in your house.  You give thanks to God that He has brought you and your family safely through the night.  You've already started the day in a God-pleasing fashion.  You remembered who is responsible for your life, and you've remembered the role you play in your family.  Nice job, good start.

Today is your day to make breakfast, so you proceed to the kitchen and get on with the task of preparation.  Good job!  God has given you the role, at least for that day, of providing breakfast for your family.  It's not the most thrilling thing in the world, and yet, it's the task that God has for you that day.  Fulfilling the role that God has given you is indeed pleasing.

After breakfast, you head off to work.  As you go about your day, you strive to faithfully do the tasks that your job demands.  Good job!  God has given you a role to play in your employment, and you are striving to faithfully live according to that role.  That's pleasing to God, as you go about the task that He has given you.  And in a way, it doesn't matter if you love your job or hate it.  God has still given you those roles to play at that particular time, and so He is pleased when you fulfill them.

On your way home, you stop by to visit an ailing friend.  You said you would do a couple of chores that he is unable to do until he recovers.  Good job!  God has given you a role that you have agreed to play in relation to your friend, and you are doing it.  That's pleasing to God.  He has given that task to you for a time, and you are being faithful in seeing it through.

I could continue to walk through this day with you, but by now, I hope you begin to see the picture emerging.  Day by day, God gives you so many roles to play.  As you strive to live according to their demands, your life is pleasing to God.  True, it's not exactly the same as when your life is pleasing as it is found in Christ, but God does take delight in His people when they fulfill the roles that their lives call for.  Sometimes they are rather boring and mundane.  But even the most boring and mundane thing can be pleasing to God when you fulfill it according to His design and desire.

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