We have often made reference to the statement of the necessity of “living our lives to the audience of One”. We can be so familiar with words often heard, and yet, fail to walk in the truth they declare. I may excuse myself from this high calling because I choose to please people before pleasing God. The Adamic nature will always seek to be thought well of by our fellowmen, family, work colleagues and friends. In these instances my life is being lived to a wrong audience when God has to take second place.
Jesus was preparing His disciples for His imminent death and resurrection, informing them of what must come to pass. Peter reacted and opposed His words, bringing a strong rebuke from Jesus: “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me, for you are not setting your mind on things of God, but on things of man.”, Matthew 16:23 Amp. Jesus is our perfect example of always living His life to an audience of One. He always did the things that pleased His Father, He only said the words His Father said.
Every day our lives are observed by those we move among. There will come times of testing when we must choose to please God first, at the expense of displeasing others. Wrong choices will be played out in many forms: A doting parent may fail to correct his child, a doctor may consent to performing an abortion, contrary to God’s law. We have all made wrong choices at times, living our lives to please ourselves, or others, playing to the wrong audience.
Romans 8:2 “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.” When we live our lives as people pleasers, making them the number one, we are conforming to the law of sin and death, and there will be consequences of wrong choices. True freedom, the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, brings liberty when I please God first, before others. It may not always be the case, but there will be times when it will cost losing your reputation in the eyes of others. Godly choices may also bring about other people’s displeasure, or criticism.
When we lose our reputation in the eyes of men, may it be sufficient to remind ourselves that the loss of our identity creates the living Christ in us. Paul declared: “I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me, and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me,” Galatians 2:20.
Living our lives to wrong audiences, giving them God’s place of pre-eminence inhibits our close walk with the Lord. The world demands “we go with the flow”, and conform to the spirit of the world. Romans 12:2 exhorts us: “Do not be conformed to the spirit of the world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good, acceptable and perfect will of God.”
We live in turbulent times. The media is full of information being broadcast on world events, but we must view it through a correct lens of godly discernment which cannot be obtained through Google! You cannot google God! Our spiritual receptors must be tuned to God and His word, not the media broadcast on television and newspapers. Only then can we discard any misinformation as we watch Biblical prophecy gradually being fulfilled.
Worldly people who do not know the Lord should be rightly terrified at the shocking, pernicious activities taking place at present. We rightly abhor the atrocities and pain caused by present wars, but as Believers in Jesus, we know we can access the place of rest and peace, knowing that God is still in control and will have the last word, always. May we have godly compassion for the innocent victims of war, praying for them and that God’s will be done in all these present conflicts. If we are constantly fearful and anguished, we must ask the Holy Spirit to train us to look through God’s lens and perspective. Wars are the result of men’s choices, not God’s, and only result in destruction and chaos. Our security is in our God and His word alone. He demands of us that we live our lives to His glory, in order to walk in our birthright of being conformed to the image of His Son, Jesus Christ. We have the great privilege of having the handbook for life, the Bible. May His written word become His living word in us, as we live our lives to the glory of God, to that audience of One.
Photo by Jametlene Reskp on Unsplash
