4 Keys To Pleasing God

The ancient city of Colossae was located on the south bank of the Lycus river.  It was an important city first mentioned in writings in 480 BC.  There is evidence, according to scholar F.F. Bruce, that the Colossae was still a major city in the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD.  There was a large Jewish population in Colossae.  Perhaps this is why Paul wrote so much about who Jesus was and what He did in this letter.  Paul did not start the church in Colossae, but had heard about what was going on there from Epaphras who had visited Paul while he was imprisoned.
Here in chapter 1, Paul and his young scribe, Timothy, tell the Colossians that they are praying for them.  They are asking God to fill them with knowledge and understanding that comes by the Holy Spirit (verse 9).  What was the goal of this prayer?  Look at verse 10:

“…so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way.” – Colossians 1:10 (NIV)

Paul then goes on to tell how they could live a life worthy of the Lord Jesus and how to please Him.  There are four keys to living this kind of life:

1. Bearing fruit in every good work (verse 10)
2. Growing in the knowledge of God (verse 10)
3. Being strengthened in all power by God’s might so that they will have patience and endurance (verse 11)
4. Giving thanks to the Father (verse 12)

This is what being a Christian is all about.  This is how we please God – bear fruit, grow in faith, patiently endure trials and suffering, and be thankful.  Which of these four areas do you need to work on today?  Are you bearing spiritual fruit by doing good works or are you living to please  and serve yourself?  Are you growing in your faith or are you stagnating?  Are you patiently enduring the trials and tests of life or are you bitterly complaining about them?  Are you a thankful person or do you take God’s blessings for granted?

It is so vital that we strive to please God.  After all, as verses 13-14 say:

“For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. – Colossians 1:13-14 (NIV)”

PRAYER: Thank You, Father, for Your Word. I want to be a thankful person today, giving You thanks for all You have done. Thank You for all that You are doing in my life and for all of Your promises still yet to be fulfilled. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Colossians 1:1-14 (NIV)

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

2 To God’s holy people in Colossae, the faithful brothers and sisters in Christ:

Grace and peace to you from God our Father.

Thanksgiving and Prayer

3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people— 5 the faith and love that spring from the hope stored up for you in heaven and about which you have already heard in the true message of the gospel 6 that has come to you. In the same way, the gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world—just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood God’s grace. 7 You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf, 8 and who also told us of your love in the Spirit.

9 For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, 10 so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, 11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience,12 and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. 13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.