November 4, 2005

  
Dear WCPC family:

Most of you haven’t met Daisy. Daisy is part of our family, a yellow lab we adopted over three years ago. Daisy was abused before she became part of our family and now she is anything but abused. She sort of has everything going her way. She sleeps where she wants to sleep, usually on the bed. She eats leftovers. You should see her watching us at dinner, waiting for us to be finished. Her life today is nothing like her life before we adopted her. 

I noticed something about Daisy. All she wants to do (besides sleep and eat) is to please us. If she does something that doesn’t please us and we let her know with a strong “No,” you would think her world has ended. Her only desire is to make us happy. Of course when she makes us happy, we make her happy. She loves it when we rub her stomach and she will chase after the balls we throw to her from dawn to dust. 

If I had to define discipleship simply it would be this—pleasing God. That’s what discipleship is all about—pleasing God. Our desire, the overwhelming desire of our hearts, should be to please God. Obviously the relationship God desires with us is different from the relationship we have with Daisy, but the essence is the same. Our desire, our longing, like Daisy’s is to please our Master. And when that happens, we find fulfillment.

A young pianist had finally been invited to play at Carnegie Hall. He played beautifully and at the end of the concert received a standing ovation. But as he left the stage he was in tears. One of his friends back stage asked why he was crying? He pointed to a certain seat and said the man sitting there wasn’t applauding and wasn’t standing.  That man was his teacher. His teacher’s affirmation was the only affirmation he craved, longed for.    

Hear the good news. God isn’t an un-pleasable parent, an un-pleasable master, an un-pleasable teacher. In fact I believe that God is always cheering us on—always giving us an ovation. We don’t have to do anything to receive His love—His love is just given to us—grace. What we do, how we live our lives, is in response to that grace—not an attempt to win or earn it.

There are no “have to’s” in the Christian faith. We don’t have to do anything. If that wasn’t the case, it wouldn’t be grace. But the surprising thing, what happens in a disciples’ life, is God turns our “have to’s” into “want to’s.” We don’t have to do anything to please God, but we want to. More and more our only desire is to please Him. 

Here’s the image I want you to keep in your mind. God is always standing, giving you an ovation! He just loves you. And nothing you do can take that love away. I learned a long time ago that guilt was a poor motivator. I can “guilt” you into doing things, but only for a short time. It never lasts. But love is a powerful motivator. Just let God love you. Everything else flows from that love.

The beloved disciple John wrote in his first letter: “We love him because he first loves us.”  (I John 4:19)

See you on Sunday!  

David Jones