“And lo a voice came from heaven, saying ‘This is My Beloved Son in whom I am well pleased'” (Matthew 3:17).

Pleased (Def): (Gr) Eudokeo: To think of well, approval, approbate, to take delight

Our Lord Jesus had a secret to reveal which gave rise to His success as a man, born of a woman. We often hear it said when we witness success and one asks, “What is your secret”? Well, Jesus did reveal His secret when He said:

“He that sent Me is with Me, the Father has not left Me alone, for I do always those things that please Him” (John 8:29).

This one desire is a key that unlocks all the doors of opportunity to do the will of God. The desire to please the Lord is a driving, constraining, confining, restricting and motivating desire to channel our thoughts, intentions, and actions through the narrow gate of following the Lamb wherever He leads.

This one desire to please the Lord goes against all our natural instincts, our carnal nature, our likes and dislikes, our habits, routines and predictable behaviors. This one desire to please the Lord disrupts all these things to bring us into the loving relationship of a living, vibrant communion with the Father, as Jesus had in His time on earth with the Father.

This key of pleasing the Father was given to the Apostles with the Keys to the Kingdom and Peter wrote of it in his First Epistle:

“Forasmuch then as Christ has suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind; for he that has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin; that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God” (I Peter 4:1-2).

It is evident that the Father is pleased when we do His will, just as He was pleased with His Son. Therefore, let us “arm ourselves with the same mind” to so please the Lord by only doing His will in all things, then surely His approbation, His approval; yes, His very delight will be upon us as we go about doing the work of the Lord in His vineyard.

The Father’s declaration of His Son occurred on two significant occasions: (1) Christ’s baptism in the Jordan by John the Baptist; and (2) on the Mount of Transfiguration with Moses, Elijah, and the Apostles Peter, James and John:

“And Jesus when He was baptized, went up straightway out of the water; and lo, the heavens were opened unto Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon Him; and lo, a voice came from heaven saying, ‘This is My Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased'” (Matthew 3:16-17).

“And there came a cloud and overshadowed them, and they feared as they entered into the cloud; and there came a voice out of the cloud, saying, ‘This is My Beloved Son, hear Him'” (Luke 9:34-35).

“For He received from God the Father, honor and glory, when there came such a voice to Him from the Excellent Glory: ‘This is My Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased'” (I Peter 1:17).

The writer to the Hebrews exhorts us to always be about pleasing the Lord with the words:

“But to do good and to communicate forget not, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased” (Hebrews 13:16).

The writer to the Hebrews further writes:

“Now the just shall live by faith, but if any man draws back, My Soul shall have no pleasure in him” (Hebrews 10:38).

Therefore, let us please the Lord and continue in the faith; let us pursue righteousness, holiness, purity, love and godliness and be well-pleasing in His sight. Let us offer the sacrifices of praise, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to His Name (cf. Hebrews 13:15).

Remember our secret: doing only those things that please the Lord. If we take it to heart, then what we do in secret, God will see, and He will reward us openly as He will be well pleased (cf. Matthew 6:4, 6, 18).

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