King Herod was celebrating his birthday when Salome’s notorious dance pleased him. So, he said to her, “What would you like to have? I will give you anything you want. I swear that I will give you what you ask for, even as much as half my kingdom! Mk 6:22-23. 

After consulting her mother, she demanded for the head of John Baptist. “This made the king very sad, but he could not refuse her because of the vows he made in front of all his guests.” Mk 6:26. 

But Mk 6:20 said earlier that “Herod was afraid of John because he knew that John was a good and holy man, and so, he kept him safe.” But because he wanted to please his guests and Herodias’ daughter, he directed his servants to behead John to meet her demand.  

 

There is the need for us to reflect on our past and be remorseful if we have pleased people and displeased God like Herod did in the case above. Peter denied Jesus thrice but repented and was elevated later by Jesus before the Ascension.

We need the Spirit of wisdom to enable us despise the perishable things of the world and aspire only after the things that are eternal. Only then we can live lives pleasing to God Our Creator.

Place God first before the people, irrespective of their relationship or positions in your life. God created you out of nothing, yet He allowed His Son, Jesus Christ to come to this earth and set you free from power of darkness and pay for your redemption through His crucifixion. So align your desires with His will and seek His kingdom above all else.

“Do not love the world or the things in the world, if any one loves the world, love for the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life, is not of the Father but is of the world.

And the world passes away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.” 1 John 2:15-17. Pray that God gives you the grace to love Him and place Him above everything else for His glory and honour.

Joseph would have loved to please King Potiphar’s wife who went so low to ask him for sexual relationship but he thought of God and rejected the offer. “How then could I do such an immoral thing and sin against God.

Although she asked Joseph day after day, he would not go to bed with her.” Gen 39:9-10. She then lied against Joseph and he was arrested and put in prison. “But the Lord was with Joseph and blessed him, so the jailer was pleased with Joseph.” Gen 39:21.

God of impossibility then elevated Joseph to the position of a Minister in the foreign land of Egypt at the age of 30. This same God has not changed. So, let us please Him with our lives rather than please men!

Daniel refused to please men but God and God decided to protect him in the den of lions as shown in Daniel 6:13, 16, 22. “Daniel does not respect your majesty or obey the order you issued.

He prays regularly three times a day.” So, the king gave orders for Daniel to be arrested and he was thrown into the pit filled with lions. When he was unhurt, he told the king, “God sent his angel to shut the mouths of the lions so that they would not hurt me.”

Gen 22:1-14 tells us how Abraham pleased God even when God asked him to offer his son, Isaac. When Job’s wife said to him, “You are still as faithful as ever, aren’t you? Why don’t you curse God and die?” Job answered, “You are talking nonsense! When God sends us something good, we welcome it. How can we complain when He sends us trouble?” Job 2:9-10.

Are you in the habit if compelling your spouse, workers, and those under your authority to reverence you above God? Repent now and change your habit. Let the world know today that God is greater than you. 

Joseph and Our Mother Mary conformed religiously to God’s will for them. “So, when Joseph woke up, he married Mary, as the angel of the Lord had told him to do. But he had no sexual relationships with her before she gave birth to her Son.” Mt 1:23-24. 

As Christians, let us emulate Jesus Christ who taught us how to surrender to His Father’s (Our Father’s) will in all our undertakings. God’s plan is the best for us all. Each of us has our plans but God alone knows what future holds for us and only He can give us the strength and wisdom to meet its challenges.

When we humbly submit ourselves to God, He will protect us against making decisions to please ourselves or other people.  

A man was influenced by his wife while taking a major decision for his family: He decided to please his wife by implementing her decision without considering if it was God’s will or not.

Unfortunately, that decision negatively affected the family so much that there was no peace for many years as they live to regret it. This reminds me of the hazards which suffocated Adam and Eve, his wife after eating the forbidden apple in the Garden of Eden.  

The Bible revealed on many occasions how Jesus Christ spent time praying to the Father before taking a major decision. “He said to them, ‘The sorrow in my heart is so great that it almost crushes me. Stay here and keep watch.’ He went a little further on, threw Himself on Father, my Father! All things are possible for you. Take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet not what I want, but what you want.” Mk 14:34-36.