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The God Who Smiles
May God Smile On You
BY RICK WARREN
“May the Lord smile
on you” (Numbers 6:25 NLT).
The smile of God is the goal of life.
The smile of God is the goal of life.
Since pleasing God is
the first purpose of your life, your most important task is to discover how to
do that.
The Bible says, “Figure
out what will please Christ, and then do it” (Ephesians 5:10 MSG).
Fortunately, the
Bible gives us a clear example of a life that gives pleasure to God in the
story of Noah.
In Noah’s day, the entire world had become morally bankrupt. Everyone lived for their own pleasure, not God’s.
In Noah’s day, the entire world had become morally bankrupt. Everyone lived for their own pleasure, not God’s.
God couldn’t find
anyone on earth interested in pleasing Him, so He was grieved and regretted
making man.
God became so
disgusted with the human race that he considered wiping it out.
But there was one man
who made God smile. The Bible says, “Noah was a pleasure to the Lord” (Genesis 6:8 LB).
God said, “This
guy brings me pleasure. He makes me smile. I’ll start over with his family.”
Because Noah brought
pleasure to God, you and I are alive today.
Over the next few days, we will learn from Noah’s life the five acts of worship that make God smile. Here is the first one:
God smiles when we love him supremely. Noah loved God more than anything else in the world, even when no one else did!
Over the next few days, we will learn from Noah’s life the five acts of worship that make God smile. Here is the first one:
God smiles when we love him supremely. Noah loved God more than anything else in the world, even when no one else did!
The Bible tells us
Noah “consistently
followed God’s will and enjoyed a close relationship with him” (Genesis 6:9 NLT).
This is what God
wants most from you: a relationship! It’s the most astounding truth in the
universe: our Creator wants to fellowship with us.
God made you to love
you, and he longs for you to love him back. He says, “I don’t want your sacrifices—I
want your love; I don’t want your offerings—I want you to know me” (Hosea 6:6 LB).
Can you sense God’s
passion for you in this verse? God deeply loves you and desires your love in
return.
He longs for you to
know him and spend time with him. This is why learning to love God and to be loved
by him should be the greatest objective of your life.
Nothing else comes close in importance. Jesus called it the greatest commandment.
Nothing else comes close in importance. Jesus called it the greatest commandment.
He said, “‘Love
the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your
mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment” (Matthew 22:37–38
NIV).
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