Pleasing The Lord

Eph 5:10 ESV – and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord.

KJV – Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.

NKJV – finding out what is acceptable to the Lord.

NLT – Try to find out what is pleasing to the Lord

NIV – and find out what pleases the Lord.

NASB – trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord.

 Paul tells us in this verse that we are to spend time trying to learn something; spend time trying to discern something.

We are to discover what it is that pleases the Lord.

Do you know what that is?

Surely you have at least an inkling of an idea. Surely you have discovered some things in your walk with the Lord that are pleasing to Him.

We know that it is to the one who is humble and contrite in spirit and who trembles at His word that the Lord looks (Isa. 66:2). Those things are pleasing to God: humility, contriteness, and respect for His Word.

We also know that the one who can stand in the Holy Place with the Lord must have clean hands and a pure heart (Ps. 24:4). 

So…why does Paul urge us to “try to find out what is pleasing to the Lord”?

Within the context of this exhortation, he has been talking about everyday life as it was for the Ephesians. The Ephesian believers were to live a life different from that to which they had been accustomed. They are now living a new life, a life completely foreign to their experience.

Whereas once it was expected to go into a prostitute to worship their god, now that is not to occur.

Fortunately, we don’t have that particular habit to overcome. However, the same principle applies. We have come to the Lord from various backgrounds and experiences. Many of us have recently made a newer, firmer, deeper commitment to walk more closely with Him.

In that place we are still learning what it means to please the Lord. Actually, we should ever be learning this.

Please allow me a weak, but hopefully effective, illustration: we tend to think it is cute when a baby goes streaking across the room in nothing but its birthday suit. It is not cute when that is done by a 40-year-old.

I think that the Lord views us much the same way. There are some things we did in our early days of service that He may have thought sort of “cute,” but now that we have been around awhile, they are not so cute–not pleasing.

The point is–we are ever growing, ever learning, ever maturing.

Never stop trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. Make it your ambition to always be found pleasing in His sight.

May He then say to you: This is my beloved one in whom I am well-pleased.

NOTE: This is the fifth in a weekly posting on the Epistle to the Ephesians. I am not the only one who is writing on this book. There are others who will be posting something on their blog each day of the week. We are each bringing something that the Lord gives us from chapter five of the epistle. You will be greatly blessed and encouraged, and your heart will be filled if you will take the time to read each day’s posting from one of the other saints involved in this collective effort. Put the following link in your “favorites” or on your link bar at the top of your browser: http://www.philter48.com/bbs/ and make it a point to visit everyday.