I Can Please God? Are You Serious?

 

Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit,
if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you.
Romans 8:8–9 

I’m back from a memorable gathering at Family Camp in the Idaho mountains. For a week, close to 40 rellies gathered to work, worship, and play together. From daytime sandbox fun near Hammock Haven, to nightly board games in the Nerd’s Nest, to cooks preparing meals in the camp kitchen, three generations of family members rubbed elbows day after day.

One morning, a spunky four-year-old wanted to “help” knead dough in the kitchen. After washing her hands, she climbed on a wooden stool. Her grandma stood behind her, placed strong hands over her granddaughter’s small ones, and guided her through the process. “Push in with the heels of your palms, pull them out, then turn the dough and push again.” While the little girl didn’t quite master the art, her motions grew smoother with practice, and her grandma was pleased.

While they worked the dough, I thought about Romans 8:1–13, which I’d been studying all week. Could my imperfect efforts to live according to the Spirit can possibly please God as much as this spunky child pleased her grandma? Later, I reread the passage, and a phrase in verse 8 supplied the answer: Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. Therefore, I reasoned, believers can please God because they live in the Spirit rather than in the flesh.

Woohoo! Our Father is pleased when I, and other believers, try to live in the Spirit. He is pleased by our inadequate efforts and fledgling desires to choose rightly, to become more like him, and to do the work he has prepared for us.

Like a grandparent teaching a child to knead bread, the Father washes us clean when we mess things up. When our hands falter, his Spirit places strong hands over our weak ones and guides us. Day by day, he takes us through the motions of righteous living. Over and over, he reminds us to watch his Son and practice his ways until they become part of us. Until we are able to do his work in his way without hesitation, without the slightest thought of turning away. Until we learn to put to death daily the deeds of the old body and live more fully in the Spirit.

Of course, we can’t complete God’s work perfectly in this life. But we can become more proficient and compassionate as the Father teaches us how to do his business on earth. Proficient enough to pass on priceless lessons to believers new in the faith. Compassionate enough to speak encouragement and hope when we fail.

Isn’t that what being part of God’s family is about? Rubbing elbows with believers of all ages and stages as we work, worship and play together in the service of our Savior.

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