Impressing God
Scripture: Isaiah 66:2 If you have reared children, no doubt you have taught them many life skills over the years. We’ve taught them skills such as how to talk, how to feed themselves, how to study, and how to have good manners. We’ve taught them how to ride a bike, how to play various sports, and then how to drive. Then you reach a new stage of your coaching career….you have to teach them how to get a job, so you review the basics with them. Shake hands with a firm handshake. Look employers in the eye. Smile. Don’t ask about money right away. Dress up a little bit. Don’t go in a T-shirt and shorts. And it worked; they all got jobs. That skill of making a good impression got more and more important as our responsibilities grow. Some people even have a company write a good resume for them. We got pretty good at analyzing what will impress others until we meet a person who isn’t impressed by our wardrobe or resume. Let’s take a God moment to think about impressing God. In Isaiah 66:2, it says, “This is the one I esteem.” Now that’s a real “attention-getter!” Who does the Lord esteem? “He who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my Word. The King James version says, “To this man I will look, and then gives those same three qualities. The Berkeley translation says, “I will look favorably upon that man.” This is a description of the man God will bless, God will use, and God will employ in His service. He lists three key characteristics. First, He looks at people’s attitudes toward themselves. What is your attitude towards yourself? God is impressed with those who are not impressed with themselves. When you realize that you’re just His creation, everything you’ve ever done or been is His gift – so you don’t seek glory, you don’t seek recognition. When you are effective, you don’t say, “Hey, ain’t I something?” You say, “Isn’t HE something!” God is looking for that attitude toward yourself. Second, He talks about being contrite in spirit. That’s your attitude toward sin. The word “contrite” literally means “crushed in your spirit.” This means that you are someone whose sin really makes you sad. You deal with it right away. You don’t make any attempt to justify it, rationalize it, or cover it. You’re very sensitive about disobeying God. God looks favorably on that kind of person – not a sinless person, but someone who is crushed in their spirit when they sin. Third, you’re attitude toward Scripture is important. He speaks of someone who “trembles at My word.” He is impressed by someone who is impressed by his Word. Do you still deeply feel the promises, challenges, warnings, and examples of God’s Word? That’s what impresses God. And notice, there’s nothing here about activities, appearance, talent, influence, or money. Three sensitivities that people can’t really see and don’t often value: You’re not impressed by yourself, you are depressed about sin, and you are impressed by God’s words. To impress a human employer, you may need to work on your handshake, your wardrobe, or your resume. But for the One you really need to impress, you work on your spirit. “To this person I will look,” God says. My prayer for each one of us is this: “That God will see in you and me someone He can trust. Lord, may it be so.”