daily-devotionals

Reading: “Furthermore then we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more.” —1 Thessalonians 4:1

In this Paul is concerned about the believer’s walk. He writes, “Ye ought to walk and to please God.” The word please means “agreeable to.” Our walk must be agreeable to the mind of God; it must please Him. Pleasing God is an outward demonstration of the inward desire. The apostle continues in verse 3: “This is the will of God, even your sanctification.” God’s own personal will is perfectly disposed to holiness and inclined against that which is evil. His will for us is that we show forth our consent to His will by our actions, behavior, and demeanor. Let us therefore pray for grace to please our heavenly Father by doing those things agreeable to His will.To be holy, then, I must look to God through His Son Jesus Christ—I cannot be anything apart from Him. Only when I have been united to a holy God through Christ can I obey the command “be ye holy.” I cannot be holy if I do not know Him for holiness is from Him. And if I am not holy I cannot be happy for happiness is in holiness.