"WHAT IS ACCEPTABLE?"

As Christians, we are given this admonition: "Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), finding out what is acceptable to the Lord" (Ephesians 5:8-10).

We might ask Cain this question...or King Saul...or Ananias and Sapphira. By virtue of the fact that some things are acceptable to God it would follow that some are not acceptable. The pages of the Bible are littered with those who learned, the hard way, what things are not acceptable.

When you sit down in a restaurant, does the waiter or waitress immediately begin to bring you a meal and a drink? Of course not - the first words they say to you once you've settled in are, "What'll you have?" They know that not everything on the menu is "acceptable" to you. If you order a steak they will ask, "how would you like that cooked." If your meal comes with a baked potato, he or she might inquire as to whether you'd like butter or sour cream, etc. They are there to serve you and to do that they must know what is "acceptable" to you.

Just as the waitperson in a restaurant is there to serve you, we are here to serve God. Before we can serve Him we must find out what is acceptable. That is why God has given us His word - so we can find out what is acceptable to Him. "His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness" (2 Peter 1:3).

For this reason, we're told that the Scriptures are profitable for "instruction in righteousness" and that they equip us "for every good work" (2 Timothy 3:16-17). The Bible enables us to find out what pleases God, and how to do it. When we ignore God's instructions regarding righteousness, we end up trying to establish our own, with disastrous results (Romans 10:1-3).

Let's be careful to not go the way of Cain or King Saul. Let's not find out, to late, what is "Acceptable to the Lord."