What does it mean to delight in God? I think if you ask the average Christian, no one quite knows what to say.
I just finished listening to a sermon on the subject from Pastor John Piper. It was from a conference recently, and the title captured my imagination because I didn’t know how to answer that myself.
I enjoy pizza. I enjoy family and friends and writing and work and cooking and reading. And then when I think about enjoying God, my default is to list all the things I do: I read my Bible and pray and go to church and…I have affection toward Him, I think?
Pastor John makes this amazing connection that I need to ponder for a while. We delight in God by getting to know His beauty and person through His gifts, actions, and words. When we eat pizza, we can experience the love of our Creator who would create delicious and pleasing food. When we see the wonders of nature, we know the power and creativity of our God. We can taste Him in the things He has made and done, and these are to move us to Him.
Our joy is never to terminate in the gifts, but rather they are the means through which we obtain and delight in the Giver.
Job is a striking book of Scripture that often leaves me with more questions than answers. Job suffers immensely, and is never told why. But it is a test to see if Job will love God for who He is rather than for the gifts He doles out.
Job passes His test. Will I pass mine?
I want to delight in God. I think I need to spend more time looking past the gifts rather than fixating upon them and missing the goodness, perfection, holiness, and beauty of the One behind them.
