Matthew 3:17 says, “And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”

God said that He was pleased with His Son Jesus. This is not at all surprising, Jesus was perfect. But what about us? We are also sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father. Is He pleased with us?

There are some days I head out to the softball field and I think, I want to make my coach proud today. The funny thing is, what makes her proud is not my ability. Everyone who bats and plays outfield in Division 1 softball can hit a line drive in the gap, make a diving catch, and throw a runner out at a base.

What makes my coach the post proud are two things:

• Positive Attitude
• Hustle

It’s funny because these things seem like they are so elementary, so basic, so useless. But at the same time, it’s not all about your ability, it’s about your heart. It’s not easy to walk to the field every day with a positive attitude. And I have always been amazed at how hard it is to sprint from one drill to the next rather than a comfortable slow jog or walk.

See, there is a common misconception in faith. It’s that we don’t “know” enough or “do” enough as the Christian to our right or to our left. That after we die, we are going to go up to the gates of heaven, recite all the good things we did for other people, say, “Ya, I know about that one time, Jesus walked on water…”

If that is the case, God will look at us and say the opposite of, “This is my Son, whom I love; With Him I am well pleased.”

He will say, “I never knew you.”

It’s not enough to just know about God and to do good things for other people, just like it’s not enough to hit home runs in you have a negative attitude or walk on and off the field. That will get you nowhere in baseball, softball, or the majority of other sports.

Instead, we fill ourself up with Jesus day by day. We rest in Him and in His word, making Him our foundation, even if we know we are not perfect. We live each day in reverence to Him and by the conviction of His grace.

And when we are before God, we can say, “I didn’t know everything there was to know. I sinned a lot…” But then we can point to Jesus and say, “I’m with Him.” In this, God will take great delight in us.

Isaiah 42:1 says, “Here is my servant, who I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight.”