The Bible is very clear on why we’re here. “Our Lord and God, you deserve to receive glory, honor, and power because you created everything. Everything came into existence and was created because of your will.” Revelation 4:11 (GW)
Nothing you and I do matters more than bringing pleasure to God. There’s a much-misunderstood word we use that describes bringing pleasure to God: worship. Worship is so much bigger than the songs we sing. Church services can be worship experiences, but we’re called to worship throughout our entire week—not just on the weekend.
God says worship isn’t onl what you do with your lips; it’s what you do with your life. You can preach the greatest sermons or sing the most beautiful songs with Christ-centered lyrics and still not worship God. However, when we focus our lives on bringing glory to God, our entire lives become an act of worship. The Message paraphrase says:
Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. (Romans 12:1, MSG)
Quickly, here are four ways you can make God smile every day:
1. Love Him above everything else. “I don’t want your sacrifices—I want your love; I don’t want your offerings—I want you to know me” (Hosea 6:6 TLB).
The thing God wants most from you is a relationship. He wants you to know Him and to love Him. When your kids are little and they run to welcome you home from work……we love that relationship, and God loves His relationship with you.
2. Trust Him completely. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart….” (Proverbs 3:51, NIV)
You trust God completely when you recognize that he knows what’s best for your life. When you do that, you begin to trust God for the impossible. You and I serve a big God……bigger than we can even imagine. We will never regret trusting God.
3. Obey Him wholeheartedly. “Here is what it means to love God. We love him by obeying his commands” (1 John 5:3 NIRV).
You and I can’t earn your way to salvation by doing good deeds. But just like your parents smiled when you obeyed them, God smiles when we obey His commands.
Obedience isn’t always easy. Some days it’ll be inconvenient, even for those of us who have been Christians for decades. Obedience will cost you. But with obedience comes the smile of God.
4. Fulfill His purposes. “God richly gives us everything to enjoy” (1 Timothy 6:17 NCV).
Too many people think that the only time God is smiling on their lives is when they’re doing something religious. That’s simply not true. God is smiling when we’re working, worshiping, praying and playing.
Today (and every day) is a great day to make God smile because you and I really have only one person to please—our heavenly Father.