January 1, 2026

Aiming at God’s Pleasure

In John, chapter 8, Jesus made a statement that I wish I could make. He said, “I always do those things that please the Father.” Wouldn’t it be great if we could all say that?

Paul points us in that direction in 2 Corinthians 5:6–9,

So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. For we walk by faith, not by sight. We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him.

Whether we are still in this earthly body or we are standing before the Lord in heaven, he says, “We make it our aim to be well pleasing to Him.”

But you know what? You cannot aim at a target that you can’t see. You can’t make it your aim to be well pleasing to Him if you don’t know what pleases Him. And it is to your advantage to find out, as Paul points out in verse 10,

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.

So let me ask you, what is your aim today? Are you aiming at what pleases God? My prayer is that you will come to truly know and understand what pleases God as you spend time each day with me in this devotional…and that you will make that your aim!

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