“Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, Make you perfect in every good work to do His will, working in you that which is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ; to Whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen” (Hebrews 13:20-21).

You will remember from yesterday that the new convert, Angie, read these verses and was fearful that she couldn’t be a Christian because she is not perfect. Jane, the leader of the ladies’ Bible study, explained to her that the word “perfect” doesn’t mean sinless or without mistake. Rather the idea of this word has to do with being complete, equipped, or repaired from a broken condition. Jane was just about to share a very personal lesson with Angie. Let’s pick up the conversation where we left it yesterday. “But there is a tremendous lesson to be learned–something I learned the hard way a number of years ago,” Jane said. “Let me tell you about the day I learned about this truth. I was a young Christian, and yet I had my heart set to do something that dishonored the Lord, displeased my parents, and would disqualify me from serving in the youth choir. It doesn’t matter now what the sin was. I was just set on doing a very sinful thing. My youth leader said to me, ‘Janie, you belong to the Lord now. You are not your own. It doesn’t matter what you think you want to do. God has worked in your life at the cost of His own Son. Now you just stop and ask yourself if this is well pleasing in His sight.’ Angie, I was so convicted. I knew what I set out to do was hurtful and disappointing to the Lord. It stopped me in my tracks, and I didn’t do it. I’ve never forgotten that day.” What a great lesson for us. Even if no one seems to be watching, we need to remember that our great God has worked in our lives at the cost of His Son. Now we must, by His help, live pleasing to Him.

For today: What a grand challenge is before us. Will my life be well pleasing to Him today?