Scripture tells us very little about Enoch. We know he is one of two men, Elijah being the other, who appears to have been taken straight to heaven without experiencing death on earth. The Enoch mentioned in Hebrews 11 may have been Noah’s great-grandfather and the father of Methuselah, the man who lived longer than any other. But the most important thing we know about Enoch was that “he was commended as having pleased God.”

Imagine being escorted from this life straight into the glory of heaven! That is a unique and amazing reward from God. Death is still considered one of the greatest fears people have, even among many Christians.

Most of the time, when the Bible says “fear not,” those words are a command. God doesn’t want us to live our lives motivated by our fears. We can’t please God if our decisions are made from our fears rather than from our confidence in the Lord’s promises.

Enoch was commended for his life and then taken straight into heaven as his great reward. The author of Hebrews talked about Enoch because he wanted his readers to remember that their promise of salvation included the promise of heaven as well.

Enoch pleased God with the way he chose to live his life, and we can too. Our reward could be the same as Enoch’s. We could be the last generation before the return of Christ. The skies could open and we could be taken to heaven having never experienced death.

Those who live with the promise of salvation are those who have placed their faith in Jesus as their Lord. On the last day we live on earth, we will be commended for our faith decision, and Jesus will usher us straight into heaven.

Wisdom is pleasing God. We don’t know when our last day on earth will arrive, but we do know that day will come. Until then, we are called to live wisely, like Enoch lived.

Hosea was a prophet to the Northern Tribes of Israel in the final days before their capture. Quite possibly, their capital city of Samaria had already fallen into the hands of the Assyrians. God used his prophet to help his people understand why he was no longer able to bless and protect them.

Hosea 4:6 is a powerful verse that speaks truth to every generation. God said, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” When people don’t know God, they don’t have his wisdom and don’t live in ways that please him. Many in the Northern Tribes of Israel had stopped caring about what pleased God and had begun to do whatever was pleasing to themselves or others.

God’s heart is clear in his word to Hosea. God told the prophet, “I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings” (Hosea 6:6). The people of ancient Israel would have said they “loved” God, but they also had affection for the false gods the culture enjoyed. Those same people would have said they had “pleased God” because they had gone to the temple and made the sacrifices for their sins that the Law required. But they also made sacrifices to the popular gods of the culture as well.

God made clear that it was “steadfast” love that he desired. God wanted the people to know him and walk with him, not just perform an act of worship that was only an act. God wanted those things because he loved them and knew what was best for their lives. The people didn’t want to know him as the one, almighty God. They gave only what they wanted to give, and their works fell short. We can’t please God without devoted love and obedience to his word.

Wisdom is pleasing God. Steadfast love for God is what produces our acts of obedience and devotion. Wisdom is knowing God in deep and profound ways and desiring to live a life he is able to bless.

Spiritual work is accomplished through spiritual strength. Spiritual strength is the result of a close personal relationship with God, a relationship anchored by our prayers. 

Paul knew how difficult it was for the early believers to live in a culture that did not appreciate or value their faith. The letter to the Colossians is one of the best books in the Bible on how to be faithful in a culture that doesn’t believe biblical truth. Paul began his letter by thanking God for the Christians in Colossae and told them of his constant prayers for them. Paul’s prayers for that ancient city teach us how we can pray for ourselves and other Christians today.

Paul prayed that God’s children would be “filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding.” The early Christians didn’t own copies of God’s word, and seeking God’s will came from meeting together for worship and teaching.  They also relied on the guidance and voice of God through his Holy Spirit. Paul prayed they would be “filled” with everything they would need to walk with God’s wisdom, discernment, and understanding. 

We sometimes take for granted that we have easy access to the Bible and to God’s will. We can search for a topic on our computers and easily find plenty of verses that speak biblical truth to our thoughts and questions. Could it be that our easy access has caused us to rely more on what we choose to read rather than what God wants to speak to us through his Holy Spirit? Prayer is entering into a personal conversation with God himself. We should be careful to include God’s Holy Spirit every time we search for his word and will.

Paul prayed constantly that the Colossians would seek God for their spiritual strength. He knew what was necessary for them “to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.” Paul would pray for and encourage Christians today in those same ways.

Wisdom is pleasing God. We cannot grow spiritually without a powerful and personal prayer life. God wants to share his wisdom with his children so they can make choices he is able to guide and bless abundantly. That is the daily, moment-to-moment goal for our prayers. Our prayers are simply the conversations we are privileged to enjoy with our heavenly Father.

Are you living a stronger, closer walk with the Lord’s Spirit than before? When we grow older, we don’t discuss the topic of spiritual growth as often. Many of us have been Christians for a long time, and we are comfortable with most of our choices. Some would say we become “set in our ways.”

Paul urged the Thessalonians to continue to please God “more and more.” There is never an “age” that we have grown in the Lord all we need to grow. There is always another passage to understand, another person to serve, and another chance to spend a day with God’s Holy Spirit, quietly aware of God’s glory.

The Holy Spirit within us is eternal and therefore ageless. His voice and guidance never grow weary and never grow silent. The vitality of our faith depends on our growth. Is our goal to know God more next year than we do right now? Is every day an opportunity to serve and store up our treasure in heaven?

Jesus spoke about the weeds that grew in Israel, describing their quick growth but their shallow roots. He encouraged his disciples not to be like that. Instead, we should look to the strength of the trees, deeply rooted by the waters and standing strong for many years. Our spiritual growth should be like those trees. The longer we remain rooted in the Lord, the stronger our spiritual lives become. 

Wisdom is pleasing God. Understanding that our spiritual lives were designed to continue eternally is wisdom. We are never fully grown until we step into our lives eternal. Is your spiritual growth pleasing to God? If so, continue to grow more and more. If your growth has slowed, you know what to do. The apostle Paul would urge you to please God and live wisely.

Jesus is the only person who could ever say, “I always do the things that are pleasing to him.” There has only been one person who lived a perfect, sinless life. The rest of us can say, “I make every effort to do the things that are pleasing to God.”

Imagine living a perfect life with no sin! It would be wonderful to end each day with zero regrets. Pleasing God is an imperfect goal for all of us this side of heaven. But Jesus taught us the key to leading a life that pleases God. He said, “He who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone.”

Detecting when we have strayed from our walk with the Lord is easy. A darkness creeps into our spiritual lives and impacts our moods and actions. We worry about things we cannot change. We can become angry, less patient, and more judgmental of others. We become motivated by selfish desires or plans rather than the compassionate love of God.

One of the markers of spiritual maturity is recognizing the darkness and knowing you need to run back into the presence of light. Jesus said he was the “light of the world” (John 8:12), and he wants to be the light in our lives.

Loneliness is an increasing sickness in our culture. The statistics are clear, and experts talk about the dangers of living that way. So many in our culture have decided there is no God, and therefore they do not seek God. 

As Christians, we know the value of dwelling in God’s presence. We are a prayer away from knowing we are “not alone.” We trust God’s word and know that if we walk with God, we can please him. God’s pleasure is our joy! 

None of us will ever be able to repeat the words of Christ, saying, “I always do the things that are pleasing to him.” But we can aim at the goal of saying, “I always try” to do that. Wisdom is pleasing God. If we seek God’s wisdom, we seek to please God and dwell in his presence. Christians are “the light of the world” too (Matthew 5:14). Let’s allow his light to radiate through us to a culture becoming increasingly accustomed to the darkness.

Everyone needs to rest from their work and take a few days off now and then. But Scripture doesn’t ever suggest we take a vacation from our efforts to please God. Every day is an opportunity to live as a strong witness to the Lord. Paul wrote, “Let us not grow weary of doing good” (Galatians 6:9). But sometimes we do grow weary.

Pleasing God isn’t about simply trying to do good things. What pleases God is when we become the Christian who overflows with works of faith. When our hearts remain close to God, we walk more fully in his Spirit wherever we go. It’s that relationship with God that enables our witness “whether we are at home or away.” We please God when we aim to live closely under his leadership.

All of us have people in our lives whose witness calls us to live with higher standards. Every Christian can serve as a spiritual encourager in the lives of others. We should also have a few people in our lives whom we have given permission to hold us accountable to our faith.

Living with God’s high standards is easier when we're “home” and surrounded by those who know us. However, making the effort to please God when we are away from home is just as important, if not more important. We are never supposed to take a vacation from pleasing God.

Wisdom is pleasing God. Becoming a person who pleases God, regardless of where we are, is wise. Our witness is not simply what we do but also who we are to become. We can take vacations from our busyness but never from the business of serving the Lord with our lives.

This verse makes every preacher, teacher, and disciple of God’s word shudder. Doing our ministry for an audience of One is a constant battle. In the first century, there were those who sought the Christian pulpit for the sake of gaining the ear of the audience rather than for the sake of pleasing God. There were those who spoke the message they knew would entertain or influence the crowd rather than speaking a message that would present the gospel of Christ.

There were always preachers who wanted to impress the audience with their eloquence rather than bring honor and glory to God. That problem existed in the first-century church and has continued to exist for every century that has followed. 

The best preachers, teachers, and disciples make a few enemies in the church. Why? Because they speak “not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts.” If you want to be an effective minister of the gospel, you must be willing to speak what will please God, not man.

The power to please God might come from these words: “We have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel.” We have been given a high and holy possession, and now God has entrusted us to be faithful messengers of his plan of salvation. 

Wisdom is pleasing God. It is, therefore, foolishness to do the work of your ministry in order to please men. Nothing will alter your focus or your message more than caring what people think rather than caring only about what God thinks. At the end of the day, we want to hear God say, “Well done, good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:21). If pleasing God is our goal, we will live wisely.

Hebrews 11:6 provides crucial information to those who want to please God. The verse is worth reading, rereading, and then giving careful thought.

Hebrews 11 is often called the Hall of Faith. The author had just finished talking about Enoch and the fact that Enoch had pleased God and was taken up to heaven. Then he wrote verse 6: “Without faith it is impossible to please him.” It is a big statement. 

As Christians, we do a lot of things that pertain to our faith that might not be the product of our faith. Those things might seem “faithful” but may have nothing to do with the direct leadership of God. How do we make certain that our actions and our works are motivated by our faith? Pleasing people by our actions is possible, but, without faith, pleasing God is impossible. How do we know the difference?

How can we be careful to allow our faith to produce our works? The rest of the verse provides our answer: “whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.” We have to live closely with God to know he exists. We also have to believe he is God and seek his will to live for our promised rewards.

To put it bluntly, we can spend our lives doing good things we hope will please the Lord. But the way to be certain is to know God exists and that he has a voice that will speak his leadership into your life. We aren’t rewarded for the good things we do unless those good things were God’s ideas. Doing one God-thing is better than spending hours and hours accomplishing our own “good” ideas. God rewards “those who seek him.”

Wisdom is pleasing God. Wisdom will seek to live closely with God, faithfully knowing he has the plans for your calling mapped out. Seek to faithfully accomplish those God-things and your wisdom will please him.

The gift of spiritual discernment is the ability to view things in this world as God sees them. Discernment separates good from evil. It is the ability to recognize truth from falsehood and detect God’s wisdom from the world’s ideas. There are those who have the spiritual gift of discernment, but all Christians can be discerning.

When we consider something from the perspective of Scripture, through the leadership of God’s Spirit, we can discern what God would think about those things. If we know what Jesus would do or say, we have our best answer.

Paul told the Ephesians, “Try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord.” When we want our lives to please God, we can carefully contemplate each day as Jesus would have lived it.

Jesus healed many people, but he didn’t heal every person. We need to be discerning about the needs people have, but we also need discernment to know if their need is our calling. Jesus had probably walked past the lame man at the temple gate called Beautiful many times yet never healed him. Later, after Christ’s death, Peter and John discerned that it was their calling. Peter took the lame man’s hand and said, “Walk.” That moment changed the momentum of the Christian movement in Jerusalem. That momentum continued throughout the Roman Empire. 

Jesus discerned the man’s need but also knew that God’s direction and timing were important. Jesus pleased God by obediently allowing that man to remain lame for a while longer. Peter and John pleased God by discerning it was their calling to be part of his healing. 

Wisdom is pleasing God. We should pray for the spiritual discernment to know how we are called to please God. Discernment is knowing what Jesus would do, knowing what Jesus wants to do through us, and submitting ourselves to God’s wise guidance. It takes discernment to please God because it takes discernment to obey his calling.

Most people wear their wedding rings wherever they go. The rings symbolize a marital bond every moment of every day. We need to keep that same mindset for our faith relationship with God as well.

There is never a room we enter, a conversation we have, or a moment of our day when we are not joined with God through Christ. The Holy Spirit “marks” us as belonging to God, and he indwells us permanently after our salvation.

Our daily witness is our most important sermon to preach. The people we work with should witness Christ in our lives. Those we sit near in a restaurant who hear our conversations should detect our faith. Those we pass on a walk, those who serve us in public, and those who meet with us at church should see genuine faith at work in our lives.

We will all have moments and days where we fall short of that high goal, but, thankfully, we all have God’s grace. Sometimes our strongest witness is actually apologizing to someone for not treating them as we should have. God can use honest humility, almost more than anything else, to reveal and redeem his own character within us.

Paul said that “whatever” we do, we can do it all for the glory of God. We serve a holy God, and our calling is to live in such a way that others can learn to love God and live for him for themselves. Pleasing God is wisdom. What a privilege we have to live this life for the glory of our great, Almighty King!