Our top priority in life should be to gain God’s acceptance. After all, it is Him to whom we must ultimately give an account.
Hebrews 4:13 (ESV)
13 And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
It is a little surprising that so many who know the importance of pleasing God seek to find favor with man.
John 12:42–43 (ESV)
42 Nevertheless, many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue; 43 for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.
Let us do our best not to be like these Jewish authorities, but rather let us do all we can to be pleasing and acceptable in the sight of God. Fortunately, we do not have to guess how to do this.
Acts 10:34–35 (ESV)
34 So Peter opened his mouth and said: “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, 35but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.
You must do two things if you want to be accepted by God. First, you must fear Him. I recently did a series of blogs on showing reverence to God (9-30-24 through 10-4-24). We must revere God by our worship, obedience, dress, speech, home life, etc.” When we are filled with godly fear, it is reflected by our willingness to live according to His will.
Second, we must do what is right. This, of course, means doing right in the eyes of God not in the eyes of man. We do this by familiarizing ourselves with the word of God because that is the only place where we will find what God considers right.
Doing right begins with obeying the gospel. Man says all you must do is believe. That will please man but not God. God says we must believe and be baptized (Mark 16:16). Actually, we must take all that the word of God says about what it takes to be saved, which also includes repenting (Acts 3:19) and confessing Christ (Romans 10:9-10), and do it.
After obeying the gospel, we must follow the word of God in the work and worship of the Lord and live morally upright lives that are in accordance with the scriptures. When it comes to being acceptable to God, nothing will replace these things. Jesus put it best.
Matthew 7:21 (ESV)
21“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
It is a pretty good idea to familiarize ourselves with the will of the Lord, don’t you think? Paul once exhorted us by saying, “Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is” (Ephesians 5:17). How do we know the will of God? By studying our Bibles. When we then do His will, we are doing right and accepted by Him.
Being accepted by God is the same for everyone. There are no exceptions. It does not matter if you are rich or poor, black or white, male or female, we are all accepted by God on the same basis. For, as Peter said, “God shows no partiality.” Do you want to please God now and go to heaven after a while? If your answer is yes, then fear God and do what is right.
As you wind down for the night, think about these things.