God-pleasers Rather Than Man-pleasers

# 223 - Today's Du-votional comes from: 1Sa 15:30 Then he said, "I have sinned; yet honor me now, please, before the elders of my people and before Israel, and return with me, that I may worship the LORD your God." (1 Sam 15:30) Saul's use of the word “yet” makes his confession of sin ring hollow. He was not so much concerned with God's honor as he was with his own. Oh that we would love God so much that all our actions and words would be aimed at receiving the praises of God, rather than the praises of men. Listen to the words of Jesus in Joh 5:44 "How can you believe, who receive honor from one another, and do not seek the honor that comes from the only God? And in Joh 12:43 for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God. I confess that I love hearing the praises of men. I think we all have a part in us that yearns for recognition and affirmation from our fellow human beings. The problem, according to these verses is when we get so enamored with seeking our own honor we neglect to seek the honor that comes from God. Or when we love the praise of men, more than the praise of God. There ought to be a yearning in our heart to hear the words of Mt 25:21 "His lord said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.' It's not that our stewardship of God's grace earns our salvation, it's just a simple matter of demonstrating our love toward God in grateful appreciation for what He has done for us. Therefore we seek to honor Him by the way we speak and live. The problem we often run into is that which pleases God does not please our fellow man. The Apostle Paul ran into this problem as he sought to preach the gospel. His message was not always well received, but he said in Ga 1:10, “For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ.” Father, help us to seek to be God-pleasers, rather than man-pleasers.