When Verdi produced his first opera in Florence, the composer stood by himself in the
shadows and kept his eye on the face of one man in the audience—the great Rossini. It
mattered not to Verdi whether the people in the hall were cheering him or jeering him; all he
wanted was a smile of approval from the master musician.
So it was with the Apostle Paul. He knew what it was to suffer for the Gospel, but the
approval or disapproval of men did not move him. “Therefore also we have as our ambition
… to be pleasing to Him” (2 Corinthians 5:9, NASB).
Paul wanted the approval of Christ. The servant of God is constantly tempted to Compromise
in order to attract and please people. When D.L. Moody was preaching in England, a worker
came to him on the platform and told him that a very important nobleman had come into the
hall.
“May the meeting be a blessing to him!” was Moody’s reply, and he preached just as before,
without trying to impress anybody.
From the Word: “We request and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that, as you received from us
instruction as to how you ought to walk and please God (just as you actually do walk), that
you may excel still more” (1 Thessalonians 4:1, nasb).
Also: Colossians 1:10; John 8:28-29; 1 John 3:18-22.
Action assignment: Perhaps it’s time to take a bit of an inventory. On a sheet of paper, list a
few things you do that you believe please the Lord. Then list anything you sense does not
please the Lord. Ask Him to help you concentrate on things that really please Him and to
eliminate things that displease Him.
WARREN W. WIERSBE
www.backtothebible.in