Take delight in the Lord,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Commit your way to theLord;
trust in him and he will do this:
He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn,
your vindication like the noonday sun.
(Psalm 37:4-6, NIV)

Enjoyment of God

John Piper says ‘if you remove enjoyment of God from faith in God, it ceases to be faith’. He sees enjoyment as an integral part of faith. I do agree. Only when we learn to love and enjoy God, we start to get to know him. Because he is love, he is joy, he is all the good things wrapped in one.

This is what the Lord says:
“Let not the wise boast of their wisdom
or the strong boast of their strength
or the rich boast of their riches,
but let the one who boasts boast about this:
that they have the understanding to know me,
that I am theLord, who exercises kindness,
justice and righteousness on earth,
for in these I delight,”
declares the Lord.
(Jeremiah 9:23-24, NIV)

How to get to enjoy God

The more we know God, the more we delight in him. So we can learn to enjoy God by getting to really know him. And how do we do that? By spending time with him in prayer, in meditation, in Scripture. Also, we need to stop hiding spiritually. We need to be open and honest and God will respond in kindness, not in anger. He knows where we’ve been and what we’ve done or left undone, yet he loves us without hesitation. Honesty creates intimacy and intimacy brings the enjoyment of God.

Enjoyment of God is not just passing entertainment but it brings eternal joy and happiness. When we’ve learned to delight in the Lord, we have learned the secret of happiness. It’s the only happiness with which our souls can be satisfied, as Jonathan Edwards puts it. Think about. It’s the only happiness that permeates our whole being. And nothing can take it away from us. Nothing. We will rejoice even in storms and setbacks. Because we know the heart of God and how he loves us with an everlasting love.

Gracious God,
Thank you for inviting us all to get to know you,
so we would know your heart.
And thank you for wanting us to enjoy you,
to take delight in you,
because you know that
only you can fill the empty nooks of our hearts.
Help us to get to know you.
Show us how to spend more time with you,
how to truly enjoy you.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen

Q4U: What is the enjoyment of God to you? Do you enjoy God? How do you delight in the Lord?

Be blessed, my fellow pilgrim, as you spend more time with the Lord and learn to take delight in him!

Photo by Haley Rivera on Unsplash.