Father, My own heart is too often distracted from You and wants to find its pleasure in Earth.
Forgive me, as I know You do, and grant me a heart that will find its greatest satisfaction and joy in You alone.
There was once a king who sent a message to his servants graciously inviting them to dine with him in his inner chamber. Some servants thought, “I cannot go until I have finished this urgent matter of the king’s business,” for they feared to face their king with their work undone. Others said, “Surely the king would never send such an invitation as this,” and they stayed away, thinking themselves clever to have avoided a big joke. Others, in the midst of life, simply forgot. Still others came with selfish motives, wishing to gain a special favor for themselves. But a few servants said to themselves, “I will go and get to love my master. God calls us to be those few servants.
God means us to enjoy Him. Somewhere in our culture, this fact got lost. We enjoy our food and our entertainment, our friends and our family, but we do not enjoy God. We have it backwards.
“Delight yourself in the Lord,” the Scripture says. “Love the Lord your God,” it commands. “Rejoice in the Lord, always.” Some Christians want to follow God without ever enjoying Him. They miss the point. God doesn’t want our work. He wants us. Jesus wants us as a groom desires his bride. And we are to desire Him with that same passion.
It is true that we are to serve Christ as a bride serves her husband, but the bride who best serves her husband is the one who most loves and enjoys him.
It is true that we are to obey Christ as a soldier obeys his commander, but the soldier who best obeys is the one who most loves.
It is true that we are to work for a kingdom, but the one who works with the most passion is the one who has the greatest passion for the king.
True religion does involve following and obeying Jesus, but first it involves adoring and enjoying Him.
Some within Christian churches want the work without the worship. Not only is their work of little effect, but their lives are empty. Work never fulfills. Even Christian work never fulfills. Only God satisfies.
Some people have heard that God satisfies, but they have not experienced it. It is like the difference between hearing the Hallelujah Chorus performed live or hearing someone talk about it. God wants us to enjoy Him live and not just hear about it. Many people in many churches have heard glorious truths about God without ever experiencing God Himself. They can quote chapter and verse about holiness, but they have never personally seen the beauty of it. They can tell you all about the Cross without ever taking up their own. They can pretend to be satisfied because they have heard about such a thing. They can muster up pleasant feelings because they have heard some truth about God, but they do not enjoy Him. They are like people who see and read about an actor and fall in love with him without ever meeting him. They love their poster on the wall, but they know nothing about the real thing.
God calls us to Himself. David writes, “Know that the Lord has set apart the godly for himself.” (Ps 4:3) And when we know God, we can say with David, “You have filled my heart with greater joy than when their grain and new wine abound.” (Ps 4:7)
In my own life, the biggest obstacle to enjoying God seems to be enjoying Earth. I find that my own self gets in the way. I would rather listen to music or watch a football game or see a movie than enjoy God. Of course, all of those activities can be legitimate in and of themselves. Certainly I can enjoy God and do those things. It’s not that they are bad. It’s that they get in the way.
I live in an entertainment culture. I find that my culture appeals to my flesh and calls me away, but that God appeals to my spirit and likewise calls me away. I find that enjoying God takes time and requires me to intentionally say “no” to things that are otherwise legitimate. God is jealous of my time. He doesn’t want the TV or a book to replace Him in my schedule. He doesn’t want me to be so busy at work that I have no time for Him. He calls me to Him and says, “Enjoy me.” If I want to spend my time enjoying Earth, He’ll let me, but I’ve made a bad trade. Sometimes legitimate things turn into idols. Sometimes they are hindrances, but I am to “set aside every hindrance … and run the race.”
I find that when I make God the priority, I actually enjoy work or wholesome entertainment much more. The enjoyment of God enhances the enjoyment of Earth. But the pursuit of Earth robs me from enjoying God, which in turn robs me from enjoying Earth. It’s strange. When I pursue God, I gain Earth as well. When I pursue Earth, I lose it.
No one will enjoy God who will not spend time with Him. We live in the era of the quick everything. Quick information, quick banking, quick travel, and, yes, quick devotions. We snatch our few minutes reading the Bible and perhaps shooting up a prayer and then get on with the business of the day. This practice is not conducive to enjoying anything. When we enjoy, we want to linger. God wants us to bathe ourselves in His presence and not just wash our hands at His sink.
It’s not that our devotion is measured in minutes. We can spend three hours a day reading the Bible and still have a dry, cold heart. It’s that our devotion reflects our priorities. “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” If we enjoy God, if we treasure him, we want to be with Him. But often we treasure other things instead. We allow Earth to call us away. We listen to the Siren’s song of work and pleasure and never quite disentangle ourselves from it. It destroys us, not with its evil, but with its beauty, and we spend our days on a desert island instead of by the fires of home. We have no time for God. Consequently, we do not enjoy Him as He would like.
