All of us who have ever applied for a job have had to answer the question, am I qualified? Some positions need lots of education. A four-year program is just the beginning to become a doctor, a lawyer, or many other professional jobs. If you are seeking a job as a tradesman, you may be required to take a lot of schooling and then train under the “master skilled” tradesman, before you can attempt the job by yourself. At some point, all of us must be “made ready” for whatever job we are required to do.
As Christians, we have a job to do. We are to do all that we do, to the glory of God. A tall order for a new believer. As a new believer, you don’t even know what pleases God so it’s hard to execute the order.
I Corinthians 10:31 “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.”
In Hebrews 13:20-21, we are told who does the training and why He does it.
Hebrews 13:20-21 “Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.”
First, we see the God of peace. He gives us His Son as payment for our sins so that we can have peace with Him. When we have peace with Him, we can then enjoy the peace in Him. We can only have peace with God when we obey, and that is available through the blood of Christ.
When we live in obedience to Him, He gives us what we need to do His will. Verse 21 talks about him working in us “that which is well-pleasing.” Our obedience is all about pleasing God. When we surrender our lives to live for Him, we no longer are living for ourselves. In this learning process, we are being equipped for the position of being an obedient child. Living to please ourselves is the ultimate disobedience to God.
II Corinthians 5:15 “And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.”
Second, our love and gratitude should be expressed in the way we live our lives. We should want to be acceptable to Him. To do that we must walk as children of the light. We are no longer to walk as we did before the indwelling of Christ. If we have succeeded in this area, the evidence will be seen in the fruit of the Spirit in our lives.
Ephesians 5:8-10 “For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light: (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;) Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.”
Third, our desire and ordained duty in life should be to live pleasing Him. This happens as we allow Him to work through us. Mere obedience for the sake of keeping rules is worthless. It is only of value when God works through us. He qualifies us for the task. He qualifies us to be an ambassador for Christ. It is through the process of His working through us that others see Christ. It is this process that allows them a glimpse of how effective the work of the Holy Spirit really is. We are to be a faithful representation of the Lord on this earth.
II Corinthians 5:20 “Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.”
In I Thessalonians 3:13, it teaches us that our pleasing God is an internal matter of the heart. One day Jesus is going to return to this earth. He wants to find us blameless in holiness. If this is to be the way he finds us, we must welcome change in our hearts and lives. We must allow Him to equip us for the job of being ready to go. We must welcome Him to do a work deep within us to spiritually stabilize us. It is his work in us and through us that makes us a fit applicant for the job of representing Him.
I Thessalonians 3:13 “To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.”
