Have you ever cried out in frustration at God asking - what is it that You want?

You are not alone! Everyone struggles with this question at some point in their life. What could an omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent being like Him possibly want from a creature like me? What is it that I am supposed to do after I have known His salvation? Do I have a new mission in my life? Do I need to become an evangelist? Do I need to sell all my goods and donate them to charity and just become a missionary?

Much more important ...... if I am not able to do any of these things... what's expected of me now in my day to day life? Christlike perfection (if He could do it so can we...) ? A life of complete license (all my sins are paid for and I am sure I am going to Heaven - so party on..)? Somewhere in the middle?

Volumes have been written on this topic, but in keeping with the theme of this category- "Plain and Simple" - we will examine the core precepts from the Bible and try to settle the issue.

Lets start with the basics - what is the chief end of Man? According to the Westminster confession, and most solid theologians who have made a detailed study of the Bible, the answer is "To Glorify God, and Enjoy Him Forever". Good answer!  We exist on this planet to show how great and glorious our God is, and to enjoy the blessings of an intimate, personal relationship with Him! All our actions and deeds should be such that people should say - There goes a righteous man who obeys His God. How great are His Commandments. How great must that God be that his disciples exhibhit this kind of behavior!! - Wouldn't it be nice ? Time after time, in the Old Testament, God expresses this heart for the people of Israel (and by extension to us who are grafted in) that they would keep his commandments with a pure heart and that the nations would look at them and glorify their God. He hasn't changed since then!

So, it seems that we must glorify God with our actions.... hmmmmmmmm.......... so what is the test for an action that would be pleasing to God given the wide variety of circumstances we are exposed to in our day to day walk?

Here are some excellent tests to apply as stated in God's Word (explicitly, and by inference)

1. You must not HARM (in thought, speech, action, cause). Well thats pretty basic... :-) How did I get here? If you look at all the Law in the books of Moses, you will find that the Law pretty much forbids you from doing anything that causes hurt to your fellow man - stealing his goods, bearing false witness against him, plotting to capture his land and moving his milestone, killing or injuring him/her. It even extends to animals - there are provisions to protect animals from suffering. We were put on this planet to manage and tend it - so this includes ecology, animal management and preservation, and preservation of the planet. We were given dominion (authority) over everything here, so we should exercise that authority responsibly. 

2. You must LOVE. The previous commandment was negative in nature (what not to do) - this one is positive. Apart from not doing HARM - we must do GOOD. To do good to our fellow beings is to reflect the nature of a loving compassionate and merciful God who saved us and gave us a chance to be His sons and daughters! The best GOOD is to bring a person to the knowledge of our God and His mercy in the form of His Son Jesus Christ, and the GREAT NEWS of the Gospel! However, not everyone is willing to receive it... what do we do then? The next best GOOD is to SHOW the person the character and person of God through our acts in their life. Trust me, God will draw to Himself those He desires, we just need to be faithful to keep his Word! The person may hate you, but if you return love for hate you will be a child of God!

3. You must turn from SIN. Turning to Him implies turning AWAY from Sin. Well what is that......... ? To start with, Sin is definitely the opposite of 1 and 2. Sin will lead you to lust, covet, steal, kill, destroy (whether that is murder or the slaughter of a persons reputation by a few well chosen words in the right ears). Beyond that, we are asked to stay away from meat sacrificed to idols, and sexual immorality. If you keep 1,2,3, you will be on a very good path to holiness in the sight of God!

Thats it.

You can't mean thats it...!!! What about smoking, drugs, alcohol, R rated movies, pornography, fast cars and bikes, my love for great food, my coffee addiction, ......<< your personal challenge here >>

Jesus says "Don't you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? But the things that come out of a person's mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them." (Matt 15:17-20). Paul in his letter to the Colossians warning against trying to get to Christ through hidden knowledge (Gnosticism), or asceticism/monasticism (renunciation/self deprivation/self torture) says - "Since you died with Christ to the elemental spiritual forces of this world, why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its rules:  "Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!"? These rules, which have to do with things that are all destined to perish with use, are based on merely human commands and teachings. Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence. Col 2:20-23

Why did I quote those 2 passages. The Spirit is saying that we should focus on 1,2,3 and not on things that are of this world and temporal (destined to be consumed and perish). 1,2,3 are portable from this world to the next! All the rest is a "leave-behind". Now don't get me wrong. If you choose to harm your body and spirit with drugs and alcohol you will reap the consequences in this life. They might even lead you to commit sins and violate 1 and 2. Which is why idolatry and sexual immorality are explicitly forbidden in the Bible. In the Old Testament, when Balak could not get Balaam the prophet to curse Israel, he was delighted to hear that the same result could be achieved through those two ends by intermarriage with the Moabites. Watch out for those two in particular.

God intends for you to enjoy your life with good things and be a blessing and a fragrance to those around you. You get to choose what you smell and taste like! If you are worrying that this seems too simple, here's a quote from Himself to help round this out............

He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. (Micah 6:8)

Begin today!!