Psalm 149:4 – For the Lord takes pleasure in His people; He adorns the humble with salvation
THEME OF THE DAY. WHAT MOTIVATES YOU? A lot of what we accomplish or won’t accomplish in life will rest on our level of motivation. That won’t be the case in everything. We may not be highly motivated to do everything and just get through things to get through things. For instance, I am not a fan of yardwork. Actually, I don’t like it at all. It is a necessary “evil” in my life. So, I do yardwork with the only motivation being I have to and to get it done.
When it comes to following the Lord Jesus and being a Christian who wants to make a difference in this world, motivation matters a lot. In fact, motivation will be one of the things I believe we will see again at our Day of Judgment. It is a Biblical reality that each of us will stand before Jesus and give a detailed account for all we did in this life (2 Corinthians 5:10). Yes, our works; our actions; our speech; how we used our time, money, and energy – everything will come under the searching eyes of the Lord Jesus. And what will be chief behind all we did will be our motive; what motivated us in life, what motivated us to do what we did in Jesus’ name.
So, what motivates me to live a Christ-centered life? What motivates you? Is it the certainty of our Day of Judgment? That is a good motive. I mean, God has told us about this day and even says He will reward us. He affirms this motivation. Another motivator might be slavish fear and this isn’t good. Too many Christians suffer from a wrong view of God and His judgment of them. Our God is not a cruel taskmaster ready to pounce upon us for every sin we commit and every bad choice we make in the use of our time, talent and treasures. We see this misrepresentation of God in the Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25:14-30. Seeing God as cruel and harsh instead of a reconciled Father makes everything in the Christian life filled with dread and a sense of foreboding. There is no joy but instead it is like we walk on spiritual eggshells afraid of God. This produces low quality works, improperly motivated, and leaves us exhausted with the joy of service. There is another motivator for walking close to the Lord and serving Him. It is the chief motivator and the one that will sustain us. It is love, but it is not our love for the Lord. It is His love for us, or in today’s scripture, His pleasure in us. We must never look to our level of love for the Lord as the chief motivator or measurement of our relationship with Him. If we are rightly fellowshipping with the Lord, one of the things which will grow in us is just how far short we fall in our love for Him. As we begin to grasp and experience His tremendous love for us, we see how little we love. But don’t let that discourage us. Let it humble us, knowing someday we will be able to love Him without the remaining hindrances of our humanness and sin.
The number one motivator which will keep us fighting the good fight, running the race, and serving the Lord with joy and power is to be constantly thinking of how much He loves, delights in and takes pleasure in us. Think long and often on the amazing love of God toward us and soon, we will be controlled by that love (2 Corinthians 5:14). It will be energy in our service. It will put joy in our hearts as we serve. It will release us from self-love in serving. It will create a soul delight in all acts of service. It will sustain us when we are tired, under-appreciated and taken for granted. Above all, it will rightly motivate us to do all things for His honor and glory. Yes, love is the greatest motivation to walk with and serve the Lord – His love to us and His good pleasure in us.
PRAYER: “Father, help me to realize more and more Your incredible love for me and may that motivate all I do and am.”
QUOTE: “Nothing will more motivate us to holy living and Gospel-centered lives than to experience God’s pleasure in us”