Well pleasing to Him

"Wherefore, we labor that whether present or absent, we may be well pleasing to Him" 2 Corinthians 5:9

by J.T. Mawson

To be well–pleasing to any person, you must know him. So it is with your Lord. You cannot know Him intimately and well if you do not spend much time with Him. You must live unto Him and not unto yourself. If He died for you that you might live, the life you live should be unto and for Him.

I am not talking now so much of your service, though He does appreciate your service. It pleases the Lord when a young brother stands up, and out of a full heart tells what a dear Savior he has found, and when a young sister gathers a few children about her to tell them of Him. But this must flow from acquaintance with Him if it is to have its full value in His eyes.

When He chose His apostles, it was not that He might send them forth to preach, first of all, but that they might be with Him; the preaching followed that. We are well-pleasing to Him when we desire His company above all else, when His love is better to us than wine. John was well-pleasing to the Lord when he put his head upon His bosom. Nor was he an old grey-haired brother when he did that. He was the youngest of the disciples, and as far as we can make out, not more than 20 at the time. He found his solace in a time of trouble on that breast in which the tenderest heart in the universe beats, and when the great test came and all the older brethren fled, this youth of 20 with a few women stood by the cross of Jesus. And his Lord was able to entrust to him His mother, a most precious legacy.