The God Pleasing Life

By Innocent Mwangi

Our actions are a direct result of choices. Everything we do is a conscious, deliberate choice that we make. We have two choices in life:

(a) To please God

(b) To please man

Desires influence the choices we make. We choose the choices that invoke the strongest desire in us.

The value we place on a choice influences us to make one choice and not the other. An Eskimo man was once asked which of his dogs he thought would win the race. Pointing to a large muscular black dog, he replied,

"that one".

"Why", he was asked.

"Because it's the one I feed most".

The strongest desire, as in the Eskimo dogs’ story, is the one we FEED most.

We can control the choices we make by feeding the right desires. The desire that we feed most becomes the strongest desire. We attach the highest premium, the highest value on our strongest most compelling desire. Consequently, the choices that we make in life are influenced by our strongest desire.

The Right Desire

For the avoidance of doubt or ambiguity, let us establish what the right desire is. I say this because although life is influenced by choices, there are RIGHT and WRONG choices.

A choice between right and wrong is a ‘no contest’. We should never get to a point where we have to choose right or wrong. As a people of God, the only choice we have is to please God. Period! However, because of the frailty of mankind and his inherent sinful nature, most of us end up making the wrong choices.

There’s a battle raging inside us – a battle between good and evil. Whereas you desire to please God, this desire is WEAK and is therefore overwhelmed by the desire to please man – including yourself.

Nearly every medium of communication today is geared towards feeding men-pleasing desires.  In a world that is influenced by wealth, fame, popularity, and sensuality, the lure for personal gratification and worldly approval have become some of the strongest desires that mankind has had to contend with. With minute-by-minute bombardment from the electronic media, these carnal desires continue to enjoy round the clock nourishment.

But does continually feeding the wrong desires make those desires right?  Does persuading people to believe a lie make that lie true?  Does refuting the truth so convincingly that every one believes you make it any less truthful?

My quick answer is NO! Truth is infallible. You cannot break the truth – you can only break yourself against it! Truth is never relative. Truth is absolute. People’s varied perceptions of the truth do not change it. Their perceptions may be different, but the truth remains the same – resolute, unchanging!

Consequently, when it comes to making choices, there’s a right and a wrong choice – and both these choices are absolute. The right choice was, is, and will always be, the right choice. The converse is also true for the wrong choice.

And this brings us to a solid statement of fact: pleasing God is the right choice; pleasing man is the wrong choice.

[Next installment in this series: God Pleasing Life part 2]