DEVOTIONAL: Investing to Please the Lord

Here is a look back at a small devotional I sent out before our trip. Let us revisit it now and I think you will see its relevance to our trip and where we go with our lives now:

Ephesians 5:8-10
(8) for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light
(9) (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true),
(10) and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord.

I was struck by the last part in which Paul admonishes us to "discern what is pleasing to the Lord." To discern takes effort and thought and prayer and ultimately knowledge of God's word - His primary means of revealing His will. Paul reminds us that once we were in darkness, unable to please God (see chapter 2), but now since we have the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ (2 Cornithians 4:6) we have a reflected light that not only shines outward through our words, actions, and deeds but also inwards to illuminate our hearts to God's will. There is an urgency to this as Paul reveals later:

Ephesians 5:15-16
(15) Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise,
(16) making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.

Paul realizes (as we all do every day as we get older) that we have a very limited time on this earth. That we live in a world that does not in totality reflect God's glory and thus, has real trials, struggles, and challenges. We therefore need to take every advantage of opportunties to serve and advance Christ's purposes in the world. Another reason that we should carefully discern what is "pleasing to the Lord." James mentions something that we can invest in that pleases the Lord. A loving task that should make us all feel in the center of God's will:

James 1:27
(27) Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.

Let us pray for Covenant Mercies, their opportunity to walk out this part of God's word in this time, and our role in coming alongside them. Be encouraged that what we have done in Uganda is "pleasing to the Lord". His revealed Word tells us so.

For the gospel and the glory of God!