Pleasing God requires a dedication to serving Him rather than serving man-made idols. Idols are images used as objects of worship, false gods, or anything we adore blindly or excessively. We can delude ourselves into thinking we are honoring and pleasing God while worshiping idols instead.
We need to ask: What takes my eyes off the one true God? What do I worship, besides Yahweh Elohim, the Lord God? The way I use my time, talents, money, the things that dominate my thoughts, and that my heart yearns for—that is what I worship. Those are my idols.
As believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, we are called to speak His truth both to fellow believers and to non-believers within our circle of family and friends. We are to be His witnesses in a world increasingly confused about who He is, and to do it with love.
Pleasing God Requires Right Worship
The Bible offers the Good News that God wants to commune with people in a personal, intimate relationship. But we must relate to a holy God on His terms. When we fall in love with someone, we “discover their love language” by paying attention to their likes and dislikes. God has a love language as well, and He tells us everything we need to know in His Word.
In Deuteronomy 4:24, God calls Himself, “a consuming fire, a jealous God.” He gave the Ten Commandments to Moses on top of Mount Sinai while the Israelites were at the bottom building the Golden Calf. To make Himself clear, the first three commandments relate to who God is and what He desires. Exodus 20:1-7 reads, “And God spoke all these words, saying, 2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 3 “You shall have no other gods before me.
4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 5 You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.
7 You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.”
Pleasing God Means Knowing What Displeases Him
Throughout both the Old and New Testaments, God details what pleases and displeases Him. 
He defines the consequences of incurring His displeasure. The book of 2 Kings records the story of the northern Kingdom of Israel being taken into captivity by the Assyrians. Time and again, God pleaded with them to repent of their evil ways and return to Him. When they refused, like a parent with a disobedient teen, He sent the promised discipline.
In 2 Kings 17:15-18 we read: “15 They despised his statutes and his covenant that he made with their fathers and the warnings that he gave them. They went after false idols and became false, and they followed the nations that were around them, concerning whom the Lord had commanded them that they should not do like them. 16 And they abandoned all the commandments of the Lord their God, and made for themselves metal images of two calves; and they made an Asherah and worshiped all the host of heaven and served Baal. 17 And they burned their sons and their daughters as offerings and used divination and omens and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger. 18 Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel and removed them out of his sight.”
Never Let Your Guard Down
It’s easy to let our guard down. Such dramatic demonstrations of God’s wrath are rare today, making it easy to believe judgment won’t come. However, Jesus said He will return again to judge. John 16:8-11 tells us, “8 And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; 10 concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; 11 concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.”
Satan caused Eve to doubt by asking, “Did God actually say?” (Genesis 3:1). Sadly, man’s desire to go his own way hasn’t changed since then. We choose from a smorgasbord of false beliefs based on what feels good in the moment. But we cannot please the Holy God on our own.
Pleasing God requires reading and obeying His Word. Jeremiah 17:9 tells us, “The heart is deceitful above all things …” Also, Proverbs 3:5-7 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. 7 Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.” Man is sinful, and God is holy. We cannot please God through our own efforts. Anything the world offers only confuses us.
Pleasing God Avoids Confusion from the World
Don’t allow the world to confuse you. The Bible is specific about God’s requirements. 1 John 2: 15, 16 says, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world.” The same temptation Eve succumbed to.
There is an ongoing dispute between Native American tribes and some Christian missionaries in Wyoming. The missionaries say traditional practices like the Sun Dance, sweat lodges, and prayers to their gods are idol worship. The tribes consider this a cultural attack. They insist one can participate in Native ceremonies and still worship the God of the Bible.
It’s no different than a friend of mine who prefers the Gospel of Thomas to the Bible. This heretical writing claims to contain Jesus’ teachings but often runs contrary to what He says in the synoptic gospels. Trying to please God without reading the Bible leads to confusion.
We put money, power, jobs, possessions, sports, New Age practices, Eastern religions, and horoscopes in the place of God. We ignore our Bibles and prayer, yet expect God to be there whenever we need Him. Whatever we put before God is an idol. Make sure your church teaches the whole Word of God.
Pleasing God Means Taking Him at His Word—His Whole Word
Some believe the Old Testament is outdated and unnecessary today. This undermines the very foundations of our Christian faith. Both the Old and New Testaments are integral to understanding God’s covenant with us, the nature of sin, and Jesus’ teachings. Ignoring part of God’s Word leads to misunderstanding of His promises and His relationship with humanity. It distorts our view of sin’s implications and the grace offered through Jesus Christ.
In the New Testament, Paul explained God’s wrath for those who fail to believe and obey. Paul explains this in Romans 1:19-23: “19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.”
Churches espousing Progressive Christianity pick and choose what they want to believe. Hebrews 4:12 says, “12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” That pleases God.
Pleasing God—A Lifelong Pursuit with Accountability
We cannot have both Jesus and gods of our own making. Learning to please God is a lifelong pursuit that requires constant accountability to His Word and other Christians. We can accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, and submit to Him in obedience. Or we can reject His teachings and follow other gods. James 4:4,5 says, “[W]hoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5 Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, ‘He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us’?”
Remember, He says, “I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.” (Jeremiah 31:3) In Zephaniah 3:17, He tells us, “The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.” I want to please a God who loves me like that!
It’s important to take stock of our lives from time to time. I need a wake-up call as frequently as anyone. Today, I will ask myself: What is taking God’s place in my life, and how will I remedy this? How will I stand firm in a culture that lies to me about the right priorities? Who can I encourage as they battle their idols?
“ For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.” Galatians 1:10