What Pleases God: Believing in Him, and Coming to Him

"But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." (Hebrews 11:6)

This morning, I was meditating on a very powerful question, and a very powerful truth.

"How can I please God?"

Why? Because He so pleases me! He has ravished my heart in a way that is just unprecedented in my Christian walk.

"Thou hast ravished my heart, my sister, my spouse; thou hast ravished my heart with one of thine eyes, with one chain of thy neck." (Songs 4:9)

Before, I did not think that He was present unless I was thinking about Him, manifesting Him through my efforts, my thought-life. Such a drain, such a burden that was for me!'

He is actively loving us, and in fact our Loving Father has been loving us when we weren't even paying attention!

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3:16)

and

"But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8)

and also

"9In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. 10Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins." (1 John 4:9-10)

And of course:

"Herein is love perfected among us, that we may boldness in the day of judgment; because as he is, so are we in this world." (1 John 4:17)

God our Father sees us just like Jesus, for we are in Christ (Ephesians 1:6) and Christ is in us!(Colossians 1:27)

I could not help sharing how much He loves us - how much He loves me!

So, I am so brimming over with His love, I ask "God, how can I please you?"

Then Hebrews 11:6 came to mind.

"Without faith, it is impossible to please God."

We have to have faith -- We have to believe in Him:

"This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent." (John 6:29)

Now, we need to believe that He exists.

We also need to believe that God is a rewarder. Indeed, He wants to provide more good to those who diligently seek Him.

What does that mean? I struggled with that phrase for a long time. Was I supposed to "look for God"? I mean, is He not everywhere, and ever-present? Does He not comfort us with "I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee"? (Hebrews 13:5)

There is another verse which talks about seeking God's face, too:

"When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, LORD, will I seek." (Psalm 27:8)

What does "seek His face" mean? Many commentaries render this Hebraism to mean "Seek His presence." Well, waht is that supposed to mean? Once again, is He not ever-present, ever-available?

Then I read the New Living Translation of Psalm 27:8:

"8My heart has heard you say, “Come and talk with me.”

And my heart responds, “LORD, I am coming.”

"Seek His Face" means "pray to Him", or "come talk to Him."

God rewards us when we come to Him, when we pray to Him, when we talk to Him!

That is exactly what God was looking for when He had created Adam and Eve to begin with! He wanted us to come to Him, to fellowship with Him, to depend on Him!

In Hebrews 11;6, we read "He that cometh to Him ..."

In this verse "come" is literally "proserchomai". Here is the full exposition on this Greek word:

proserchomai: to approach, to draw near

Original Word: προσέρχομαι

Part of Speech: Verb

Transliteration: proserchomai

Phonetic Spelling: (pros-er'-khom-ahee)

Definition: to approach, to draw near

Usage: I come up to, come to, come near (to), approach, consent (to).

This verse made me think of Genesis 45:4, in which Joseph invites his brothers "Draw near to me."

But this verb "draw near" ("Nagash" in Hebrew) appears sooner than that in the Old Testament:

"And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?" (Genesis 18:23)

In the first mention of "Draw near", Abraham comes to God asking Him to spare the righteous in the city of Sodom and Gomorrah.

Notice that Abraham believes that God exists, and that God is a rewarder of those who seek Him. God answered Abraham's prayers every time he asked.

Would that Abraham had asked "If there is ONE righteous, will you spare the city for that one?"

At any rate, what pleases God?

That we believe He exists, and that we come to Him! That we ask from Him, that we come to Him, toalk to Him, call on Him in time of need!

"Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." (Hebrews 14:6)

God wants us to come to Him.

God wants us to depend on Him.

That's what pleases Him -- Not what we can do for Him, but that we let Him do for us!