9TH AUGUST
1 Thessalonians 2:4
“…but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts.”
Please God! Not people!
I was at a BBQ with friends and God gave me the opportunity to share the good news of Jesus Christ. I thought I had done a good job of communicating the key truths. I shared how we all have chosen to rebel against God, I explained that God is just and is unable to let sin go unpunished and the punishment for our sin is death, I explained that there is nothing we can do to repair our relationship with God or escape the punishment of death. I went on to explain that God loved us so much that he sent Jesus to die as punishment for our sin. I explained that it is only through placing our trust and hope in Jesus and choosing to surrender our life to him that our relationship with God is repaired for eternity. I explained that everyone has a choice to either receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour or stay separated from God and experience eternity in hell.
And then the question came, “So what you’re saying is: if I choose not to believe in Jesus I’m going to hell?” It’s at this point I had to make a choice—do I speak to please man or speak the truth to please God?
The friend that asked this question died unexpectedly a few years later.
I’m so grateful that God gave me the grace to speak the truth that night. God provided the opportunity to speak for him and the grace to respond in a way that pleased him.
MAKE IT PERSONAL
Do you have a tendency to be a people pleaser? At the end of your life what God says about you will matter more than what thousands will say about you. Reflect on this and let God speak to you now.