9-10But neither exile nor homecoming is the main thing. Cheerfully pleasing God is the main thing, and that's what we aim to do, regardless of our conditions. Sooner or later we'll all have to face God, regardless of our conditions. We will appear before Christ and take what's coming to us as a result of our actions, either good or bad. (The Message)
How about if today you try to do one thing and one thing only? During this advent season it would seem appropriate if we tried to live out Paul's directive here to the Corinthians and did everything we could to please God. Spend a day focusing upon pleasing God, not your parents, your spouse, your children, or even the stranger on the street. I'm guessing that all of these people might be impacted by your attempts to please God but that is not the focus of the day.
It will look different for each one of us but it will most like also look different from what we have been doing on a given day. But it is Christmas and why not take the risk. Live today to please God and don't worry about anything else.
Some thoughts to ponder and share with others:
- What do you see in Paul's life that indicated he was living to please God?
- What difference might it make in the way you live if you focused more upon pleasing God than yourself or others?
- Which would be more difficult giving up trying to please others or trying to please yourself?
- Find someone that will try this out with you on the same day and promise to talk about your experience with each other soon.
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