How do we find favor with God?

God finds favor with our lives when he “delights” in what we are doing. God finds favor with those who use their lives for his kingdom purpose. God delights in the knowledge that we will be with him, as his children, for all eternity. God has always found favor with people who live their lives with him. That is why the author of Proverbs wrote the message from God saying, “whoever finds me finds life and obtains favor from the Lord.”

Wouldn’t it be wonderful to end each day realizing that God had found favor with the way we spent our time, our money, and our talents? The most peaceful prayers are those spoken to our Father when we know he is smiling down on us, his children.

We have God’s word so we can study and know the things we can do that bring him delight and incur his favor. There is nothing more important to God than investing in our eternal lives and helping others do the same. If you have Jesus, you have eternal life and God’s eternal favor.

But the rest of the proverb is also worth considering. We can also know what hinders God’s favor in our lives. When we fail to know God and “find” his ways, we injure ourselves. God cannot find favor with things that harm his children. Again, we have God’s word so we don’t have to wonder what the Lord can, and cannot, bless. If we allow our sin to bring us and others harm, we cannot receive his blessings and favor. If people continue to live without God, they will die without God. They have chosen to love death more than eternal life.

God created us for heaven, for himself. God wants to bless and therefore will bless all that he is able. The source of our joy is God’s favor in our lives. Jesus lived his earthly life submitted to the will of his Father. His perfect life became our greatest blessing. When we came to know Christ as our personal Savior, we gained life everlasting and God’s most valuable blessing, his eternal favor.

Jesus is the model for our own faith and the pathway for our eternal relationship with God. Jesus is the reason we have found favor with God, forever.