How to make God happy

How different the day would be were each of us to ask the Lord every morning, “How can I live this day in a way that will bring you genuine pleasure?” Almost three millennia ago the Old Testament prophet Micah answered that question with three concise and memorable phrases, “treat others fairly, love kindness, and walk humbly with your God” (6:8). 
       Isn’t it interesting that the basic ethical questions of mankind do not change over time. How a fundamental principle is best expressed in a given cultural setting calls for thoughtful application. Truth remains constant: application adjusts to context. So let’s think together on how we can make our day, not simply acceptable to God, but one that provides him genuine pleasure. 
       Apparently a major way to please God – Micah mentions it before anything else – is to be fair in all our dealings. Well, that doesn’t seem to be very spiritual. One could think of more lofty practices such as serious prayer, sober concern regarding life’s most crucial concerns, but Micah simply tells us to be fair with others. And what is it about fairness that raises it that high on the scale of ethical obligations? I believe the answer is that righteousness is a major attribute of the One we love and serve. And righteousness isn’t some lofty quality that defies definition, but the simple fact that God always does the right thing. In every “decision” he inevitably does what is right. That is why we call him righteous. So, if we want to bring him pleasure, live as he does; always do the right thing (and apart from how many times we may have bruised our conscience by acting against it, we still have a good idea of what is right).
       Then Micah – and it is God speaking through him – tells us to love kindness. Fall in love with that gentleness that brings healing to others who may be hurting. It describes the life that is centered in the welfare of the other person, and you know how contrary that is to what at the moment we usually would rather do. God, of course, has provided us with the best example of kindness in that although we were the ones who “ate of the fruit” he was the One who, in his only Son, paid the price. The cross is the ultimate expression of God’s kindness to us, the rebels. “For God so loved the world that he GAVE . . .” When we show that kind of kindness to one another, God is so pleased.
       And finally, “Walk humbly with your God.” What makes this a bit easier is an increased realization of who it is that wants to walk through our day with us. Frank Laubach, often referred to as “the modern mystic,” encourages us in his little book, The Game with Minutes, to think of God every minute of our waking day. (He also suggests that we ought not try this if we don’t have a good sense of humor!) Walking with God throughout the day is not a proud achievement, but a genuinely humbling experience. It helps us to keep in mind just who we are. It’s hard to assume superiority when we are walking with the King