PLEASING GOD -- MOTIVATION FOR MINISTRY

Hebrews 11:5 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.

What must our motivation for Ministry (particularly evangelism) be? Or what is it that drives us as Christians?

Is it that feeling of satisfaction, that we did something good for someone? Do we want to leave a legacy so that people will remember our great accolades and all we did for God?

Is it Love and concern for our fellow man?

Is it the sweet taste of victory, looking forward to the crown?

Those are all great causes, but they will not cause us to persevere as faithful soul winners. Only one motivation for evangelism and soul winning will cause us to remain constant in the ever-raging battle. It's the same thing Jesus saought to do when He was on the earth...

PLEASE GOD!

Those two words sum up the purpose that drives the faithful Christian. A desire to please God comes from a heart that truly loves God. Irregardless the trials and tribulations, a heart that desires to please God will persevere.

I'd like to say I'm always drven by a heart full of love and compassion for people... but how many times do I let people down. How often do we pass people by, knowing they could be destined for hell, yet not stop to share the gospel with them? My love for people is not always consistent and is not what will keep me on the front lines of evangelism. My love for God and desire to please Him will keep me there.

A drive to succeed and win that crown is not what will result in a crown. If that is my motivation, it is selfish. Those who ultimately receive a crown, care little for any reward of their own. Their reward is to please God and know that His will and His desire has been fulflled!

To please God is the opposite of pleasing men. And you can never please God or become a soul winner, if you desire to please men. A desire to please people will kill one's ability to please God and live according to His will. Eventually he will compromise or buckle under the preasure. Those who please men are driven by the survival of SELF.

Galatians 1:10 For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.

When a soldier enlists in the army, he lays down his life for King and Country. His will and purpose become intwined with that of the King. His desire is to please his commanding officer by simply obeying every command. A soldier does not enter a war with his own perrogative. He does not go to fulfill his own desires or to earn any reward. He is not proccupied with what his motivation should be, he has one thing in mind... to do what he has been commissioned to do... serve the King. ANd by serving the king, the king will be pleased. And if the king is pleased with him, he has accomplished the mission.

Soldiers in war are often refferred to as "dead men walking" due to the almost inevitable fact that they will not survive the battle. But that is exactly what should define a Christian. A Christian has no ambition of SELF, he is dead to self and alive in Christ... he is a dead man walking. A dead man has no fear of what people can do to him. That is why he makes a courageous soldier.

We are not machines or work horses. God cares about his soldiers every need. But when we came to Christ, we enlisted in His army. We laid down our own lives and surrendered our will over to our Lord and Savior. Why?

Gratitude!

Those who have realized God's amazing Love through the sacrificial act of Calvary, have been love-struck with an all-consuming desire to give the only thing that seems comparable to the price Jesus paid to save him.

What will please God? Rescuing those He died for from the flames of eternal hell! How it must please God when he sees the fruit of His labor... when the brutal death he endured results in another salvation! How it must please Him when we simply bey, put our hand to the plow, and Go into the harvest field.

It pleases God when we preach the gospel and bear fruit in Ministry...

1 Corinthians 1:21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.

Colossians 1:10-12 And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you[a] to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.

SO Please God, not men!