Impressive

Trying to impress God never works out well.  Positioning yourself to be impressed by God – that’s a lot better.

Try harder!  Work longer!  Do more!  Go faster!  Be quicker!  Go farther!  These are powerful statements of exhortation that fit into our culture.  But they don’t fit in the Kingdom, not even a little bit.

In fact, when we try to impress God with our achievements, our doings, our activities, He actually gets depressed.  I’m convinced that it’s heartbreaking to Him.  I can’t imagine my son saying to me, “Dad, look at what all I’ve done to earn your approval!  Are you pleased with me?”  I’m pleased with him because he’s my son, and God is pleased with us because we are His kids through Jesus.

But that doesn’t lead us to inactivity.  It leads us to position ourselves to see God work – doing things, trying things, praying for things.  We share the Gospel and pray God will change lives through it.  We serve others as an expression of God’s mercy on someone.  On and on we could go.  My son could say to me, “Hey dad!  Look at how this worked out!  Awesome!”  And I would celebrate with Him.  I think that’s how God does with us.

Position yourself to be impressed by God.  You’ll both get to celebrate how He moved.