We Must Long to Please Christ (Col. 1:10). The phrase “so that,” means that we put into practice our desire to know the will of God, and our desire to do the will of God. James says: “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves” (James 1:22). Our goal must be finding the will of God and fully pleasing to Him. Paul’s desire for the Colossians is to know God’s will for them so that their lives may be pleasing to Him.
Satisfying the Lord Jesus must be our ultimate goal in life. We must lay aside anything that would hinder our Christian growth We must pray that God will infuse our hearts with His desires so that we learn to delight ourselves in ways that please Him. We must also live our lives in way that our day-to-day faith can be seen by others. Matthew 5:16 reads as follows: “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that[b] they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”
We Must Live to Please Christ (Col. 1:10). We must not only long to please God, rather, we must live to please Him. Our behavior as Christians must reflect the teaching. Of the Word of God. Can we “walk worthy of the Lord.” No, not, in an of ourselves. Rather we can because of the righteousness of God. We can live holy lives because He is holy. John MacArthur writes in the “MacArthur Study Bible.”
“This is a key NT concept that calls the believer to live in a way that is consistent with his identification with the Lord who saved him.”
We must always live in submission and surrender rather than comfort or convenience. Our true desires will be revealed through our actual behavior as we embrace the ultimate purpose of following God’s will: pleasing Christ!
Paul writes further on the theme of “walking worthy” in Phil. 1:27: “Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel.” Concerning this verse, MacArthur writes,
“Believers are to have integrity, i.e., to live consistent with. What they believe, teach, and preach. C.f. Eph. 4:1; Col. 1:10; 1 Thess. 2:11-12; Titus 2:10; 2 Peter 3:11, 14.”
Wherever we are we must seek to live lives that glorify the Lord Jesus. We must always, as the saying goes, “practice what we preach and teach.”
Larry Miles is Co-Editor of Word & Work and attends Cherry St. Church of Christ in New Albany, IN.