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