“Furthermore then we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more” (I Thessalonians 4:1).

Exhortation to walk with God is a constant reminder of Paul to his disciples. Evidently Adam and Eve had the distinct pleasure of “walking in the garden in the cool of the day” (Genesis 3:8) with God before they rebelled. On this side of the curse our walk with God starts with newness of life, as it says in Romans 6:4: “Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” That walk is sustained by the Spirit. “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh” (Galatians 5:16). It is ever alert to the pitfalls of life. “See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise” (Ephesians 5:15).

Pleasing God is a blessing given us by God. “But as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts” (I Thessalonians 2:4). Our focus of service is easily led to please men, whom we see; not God, whom we don’t see. The act of pleasing God has had fantastic results in the past, for recall that “by faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God” (Hebrews 11:5). Pleasing God can be as simple as doing good. “But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased” (Hebrews 13:16).

“But the path of the just is as a shining light that shineth more and more unto the perfect day” (Proverbs 4:18). KBC