Daily Devotional for September 1, 2014

Psalm 51:16-17
Going through the motions doesn’t please you,
    a flawless performance is nothing to you.
I learned God-worship
    when my pride was shattered.
Heart-shattered lives ready for love
    don’t for a moment escape God’s notice.

Scripture quotations from The Message. © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene Peterson.  Used by permission of NavPress, Colorado Springs, CO.  All rights reserved.

I saw a post on Facebook the other day that absolutely astounded me. Out of kindness, I will not name this person...but the wife of a well-known television evangelist stood before her congregation and told the people that... “When we obey God, we’re not doing it for God...we’re doing it for ourselves, because God wants us to be happy...that’s the thing that gives Him the greatest joy.”  She continued...”Just do good for yourself...and this will make God happy.  When you come to church and worship Him, you’re not doing it for God, really...you’re doing it for yourself...because that’s what makes GOD happy!”

The punch line to this Facebook post was an added video of Bill Cosby as “Cliff Huxtable” on “The Cosby Show”, saying, “That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard in my LIFE!” I almost fell off my chair laughing!  Can I get an “Amen!” here?  I am guessing that this woman has not read Psalm 51:16-17 lately!  Here’s a news flash for her and the rest of us...”It’s not about you or me!”  I think I know what she might have been trying to say, because yes, God does want us to be happy.  But that is not His end goal!

Here’s another way to look at it...one of my best friends has two sons., and when they were little, she was telling me about how other children in their play groups were rude and disrespectful.  She said that she did not tolerate such behavior from her own children.  She told me...“I don’t care if my boys like me, but they are going to respect me and do what is right!”  My friend loves her sons...and she loved them then...but she wanted them to be polite and act appropriately. Of course, she wanted them to be happy! But showing kindness and respect for others...or humility and sincerity for serving God...does not equal displeasure or rob us of our joy - at least, it shouldn’t!

I hope my illustrations are making sense. God loves us and wants us to be filled with joy. He shows us tremendous grace, mercy, forgiveness, kindness and compassion...and often gives us far more leeway than we deserve!  I know we serve a God of second, third, and fourth chances – and more! But this is not a license to run willy-nilly through life serving our own interests.  And yes, there will be times when things are hard, and we really don’t necessarily like the direction in which God steers us.  But we are to swallow our pride and humbly submit to His plans. THIS is what pleases God and makes Him truly happy – and what will ultimately bring us the most joy, as well.

My message to you this day is that being a Christian disciple is not always easy. In order to truly be “successful”...to operate in God’s blessings and truly honor His commitment to us...we must humble ourselves, set aside our pride and stubbornness, and come before Him with a “shattered heart”.  We must say, “Here I am, LORD...ready to do whatever You need - wherever and whenever You need me...and to give YOU all of the glory.”  I’m pretty sure that our “performance” will be anything but flawless...but that’s okay. God doesn’t care about our “motions”...He’s interested in our motives!  Anyone can pretend to love and serve God and others...but GOD knows our heart and what we are really thinking and feeling. What does He know about you today?


©2014 Debbie Robus

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