During my children’s summer vacation I’ve had the opportunity to spend a little more time than usual doing things together with them. Usually that means running an errand or doing something that’s just a little bit out of the ordinary. None of those activities are very noteworthy, but what stands out to me is their willing attitude to join me in the activity. Most of the time, these activities are very new to my kids and involve the risk of doing something differently. I usually present the opportunity to be my companion without requiring them to join me, so I’m pleased when they demonstrate the willingness to try something new and tag along with me. Their willing attitude is what pleases me the most.

This kind of willing attitude is something that God requires of us too. As human beings, we have free will to choose how we will behave, whether to follow God, or not. While the choice is freely ours to make, the Bible is very clear about what the right choice is. The decisions we make about obeying God or following other competing desires have drastically different rewards and consequences. There may be a short-term benefit of worldly satisfaction by following our own desires, but the ultimate consequence of not following God is death. Just as a parent is pleased when his children heed instruction, God is pleased when we follow Him. On top of that, He offers an eternal reward!

Our attitude is very important to God. We’ve heard this before, but it is good to be reminded. Even when our actions have the appearance of obedience and righteousness, it is our attitude that is judged. Proverbs 21:2 describes this in elegant terms, “Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, But the Lord weighs the hearts.”  God is not going to be fooled by the mere appearance of our behavior, but our intentions and willingness to submit will be judged.

With the Fall Holy Days upon us, we will undoubtedly find ourselves under all kinds of pressure, putting our attitudes to the test. Knowing that our hearts will be judged under such pressure, now is the time to make sure that we are willing to follow God with joy and gladness. If we follow God begrudgingly or bitterly, it will be plain to Him and the consequence will be severe.

There may be unpleasant consequences for obeying God as well, but those consequences are worldly and temporary. Paul served jail time and was physically beaten for standing up for the Truth. Jesus Christ laid down His whole life in the ultimate act of obedience. How severe are these “bad” consequences relative to the good things that we face? I think that it’s clear that the vast majority of difficulties that we may encounter pale in comparison. When we read about Paul’s or Christ’s examples, we see how courageous and how willing they were to fulfill their purpose. This is the kind of willing attitude that we must have.

We need to be encouraged, especially as we enter the Fall Holy Day season, knowing that we can trust in God and that the worldly consequences that we may face are relatively insignificant. David reflects on this when he writes, “In God I have put my trust; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?” Are we willing to put our trust in God and stand up firmly for the Truth? We must!

On March 2, 2004, the Philae robotic lander was launched from the surface of the earth into outer space, with a mission to land on the surface of a comet. Just over ten years later this radical and seemingly impossible mission was accomplished when it successfully made a soft landing on the surface of the nucleus of comet “67P”. As unfathomable and crazy as it sounds to land a spacecraft on the surface of a comet, a team of human beings managed to accomplish the task. To me, this is a prime example of man accomplishing whatever he sets his mind to do (compare Genesis 11:6). With this space probe attached to the nucleus of the comet, the scientific community is thrilled to discover previously unknown facts about this celestial body. For man, this is quite a feat.

As significant as this accomplishment is to man, in the context of God’s plan, landing on a comet is meaningless. In fact, it is even worse than meaningless, because it gives man an opportunity to be proud and glorify himself. The strong, wise, rich and powerful according to the standards of the world may have something to be proud about now, but the Bible is clear that “…the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence” (1 Corinthians 1:28-29).

If we have pride in our lives that elevates our opinions of ourselves above God, knowing that this is something that God will punish, what are we to do? We need to change our perspective to be spiritually minded and to walk in the Spirit (compare Galatians 5:25). This simply means that we should not seek value or glory from the world. The things that the world might provide are only temporary and will not provide any enduring reward. We are reminded of this perspective in 1 John 2:17 where we read, “And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.” If we live with the understanding that the world truly is passing away and that it is God’s Will that no flesh should glory, the achievements we accomplish in this world lose their value.

When we put this understanding into action, our motivation shifts away from achieving the temporary accomplishments in the world and re-focuses on fulfilling God’s Will. We put our treasure in heaven when we live in the Spirit. The Scripture that illustrates this shift in perspective is Colossians 3:23-24, where Paul writes, “And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ.” Here we can see that we are not to stop taking action in our lives because the world is temporary. We must continue to be productive individuals, but the reason why we take action changes. The work we do – the action we take – must be done to please and glorify God, not man—not ourselves!