Be Pleasing to Him (2 Cor. 5:6-10)

Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord—for we walk by faith, not by sight—we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord. Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.
(2 Corinthians 5:6-10, NASB)

I’m totally with Paul. I definitely “prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be home with the Lord.” I honestly cannot wait until I meet my Savior face-to-face.

But, as I often say, every day that God gets me up out of bed is another day He’s choosing to use me to fulfill His purpose. And so what should I do? I should have the same ambition Paul did: “to be pleasing to Him.”

I need to follow His “greatest commandments”: loving Him—heart, soul, mind, and strength—and loving others. (See Mark 12:30-31.)

I need to be loving, joyful, gentle, kind. I need to have self-control, to be patient, to be faithful. (See Galatians 5:22-23.)

I need to seek His will in all things (James 4:15).

Yes, we each have a purpose, and God will continue to use us until He takes us to heaven, either through death or Christ’s return. And even though we may long for the day we stand in His presence, our focus must be on living to please Him.