Well pleased

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

WELL PLEASED

Matt 3:13-17

13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. 14 But John tried to deter him, saying, "I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?" 15 Jesus replied, "Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness." Then John consented. 16 As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased."

NIV

This is it, the onetime recorded moment when all three of the Trinity are present and active in the world. We have Jesus coming up out of the water and the Holy Spirit descending upon him and the voice of the father in a clear and audio affirmation that Jesus is his Son and he is well pleased with him. Both Mark and Luke record these same words so we can be certain God wants us to know Jesus is the Son, a distinct person of the Trinity. The Greek word for well pleased means to approve, think well of, to approbate, which is to formally approve, sanction. We could spent so much time on this fact of the baptism of Jesus by John and the Trinity all being together at that moment, but it is this approval, this approbate by the Father toward Jesus is where we need to seek our life lesson. Should this not be the goal of every believer, to have the approval of God?

Gal 1:10

10 Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.

NIV

Paul was not living for the approval of men, but from God. In fact he makes it clear that if he were living in any way to please men, he would not be a servant of Christ. Can we say we are like Paul? Are we living to win the approval of men rather than God? Sometimes we have heard believers’ comment that standing up against what is going on would be a bad witness. Others would comment that being zealous about Jesus is also a bad witness and that we need to blend in, make friends and then slowly, stealthily sneak in something about God. Would that not be trying to please men instead of God? If we approach our witness in that manner, perhaps then we could not claim we are servants of Jesus. All throughout scriptures we find what it means to please God. There is so much it would take the whole of the New Testament to enumerate all the attitudes and behaviors needed to please the Lord. Yet the greatest pleasure we give God is to accept his Son, Jesus Christ, as our Lord and Savior. This is the whole of everything God intended before the foundation of the earth, before creation took place. Once we have done that, and knowing it brings him the greatest pleasure to have all people come to repentance, to have a change of thinking, a change of heart, and accept Jesus, then should we not be concerned about telling them the truth right up front? Should we not be forthright about their future? If we love them as ourselves, which pleases God, then we would want them to know what is going to happen to them one way or the other, eternal life or perish. It is true we can spend our entire life studying the scriptures to find truths to live by, or to attempt to understand God better or our relationship with him. But we need no study to know that we should be living to please him rather than men. The greatest words, as believers, we will ever here are, “Well done, good and faithful servant”.

Matt 25:21

21 "His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!'

NIV

To be a good and faithful servant according to what God defines through Paul is one who lives to please God rather than men. So let us not be concerned what men think of us, trying to appease or please them by either our silence or less then forward speech about Jesus. Let us be concerned what God thinks about us. Let us live our faith out loud, unashamed of our faith, or our God. Let us speak our hearts, standing tall for the truth of the gospel message. Then we will hear those words, “This is my child, in whom I am well pleased”.