It's My Pleasure

Hebrews 11:5
By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, "and was not found, because God had taken him"; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God.
David Brainerd was a young man with a contagious love for God in a world without love for God. In the early eighteenth century he dedicated himself to missionary work among the Indians of New England. He is famous for the journal he kept of his life in God and his longings for God. Across the years this journal has fueled many a life on fire for God. Brainerd did not live a long life, but he did live a full life. Tuberculosis shortened his life, and two weeks before his death at the tender age of twenty-nine, he called his friends to his bedside. His dying words reveal the passion of his life! He said, "My heaven is to please God, and glorify Him, and give all to Him, and to be wholly devoted to His glory. That is the heaven I long for; that is my religion, and that is my happiness . . . I do not go to heaven to be advanced, but to give honor to God . . . All my desire is to glorify God . . . I see nothing else in the world than can yield any satisfaction besides living to God, pleasing Him, and doing His will."
David Brainerd's greatest pleasure while on earth was to please the God of heaven. That was his heaven before he was in heaven! It was his dying testimony that he found joy in delighting the heart of God. Interestingly, the Bible points to another man who had that very same testimony. According to the writer to the Hebrews, Enoch was a man who "had this testimony, that he pleased God" (Heb. 11:5). God's Word tells us that Enoch lived in the seventh generation from Adam between the fall and the flood, a period marked by the spread of sin ending in death (Gen. 5:1-32; Rom. 5:12). Ironically, the account of Enoch having this testimony, that he pleased God is placed in the midst of the reign of death, although Enoch himself would not die (Gen. 5:21-24). This was a period leading up to the days of Noah (Gen. 6:1-8). They were days marked by a rising tide of evil, days that would trigger the judgment of the flood. In living for God, Enoch cut against the grain of the culture. Like David Brainerd, Enoch's heaven was to please God. So much the case that one-day while walking with God, he walked straight into heaven (Gen. 5:24; Heb. 11:5). Enoch's communion with God was so real that the transition from earth to heaven was seamless. The move to heaven required very little adjustment.
In a world where men love to please themselves, and love pleasures rather than God, may we follow in the footsteps of Enoch, a man who walked with God, a man who had this testimony that he pleased God. May we make it our aim to be found pleasing to God when we make the transition from earth to heaven (2 Cor. 5:9-11)! Some of the ways we can do that is (1) by displaying faith in God (Heb. 11:6); (2) by being spiritually minded (Rom. 8:6-8); (3) by fearing God (Psa. 147:11); (4) by exalting and following Christ (Matt. 17:5); (5) by complete obedience to God's Word (1 Sam. 15:22-23); (6) by doing God's will (Heb. 13:22); and (7) by being generous in our praise toward God for his many blessings (Heb. 13:15-16). As those created for His pleasure, may our greatest joy be found in bringing joy and pleasure to God (Col. 1:16-17; Rev. 4:11). God did not put us on the earth to please ourselves, but to please Him, which is pure joy (Psa. 37:4)!
More in Pastor's Blog
October 15, 2024
It's My PleasureSeptember 15, 2024
Hearing AidsAugust 15, 2024
Not Now But Later