Our main purpose in life is reverencing God and following His directives. However, do we realize that God wants us to enjoy our lives glorifying Him? The devil always wants to make rule keeping and obedience a drudgery. God wants to make living for Him a satisfying and joyous way of life.
“Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!” (Psalms 34:8 ESV).
“For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome” (1 John 5:3 ESV).
Training our hearts to make God our ultimate joy and delight won’t happen if we don’t know Him. Until we commit wholeheartedly to serving God our lives will be empty and lack the enjoyment God desires for us to own.
“Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart” (Psalms 37:4 ESV).
Those who have “life eternal” (John 17:3) know God and Jesus. They understand the depth and riches of living within the righteousness of God (Romans 11:33). Notice the beautiful refrain of the psalmist:
“I delight greatly in the LORD; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels” (Isaiah 61:10 NIV).
Knowing God and the joys of serving Him stays the souls of the world-worn. Knowing God drives us to service. Knowing God causes us to fall out of love with the trinkets and trash of the world and treasure the things in heaven (Colossians 3:1-2). When we truly surrender to God we will long to be in His presence more than anything else. We will yearn like the Psalmist:
“One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple” (Psalms 27:4 ESV).
“O Lord, I love the habitation of your house and the place where your glory dwells” (Psalms 26:8 ESV).
My friend, there is no better life than the one lived for God in Christ. There is no more fulfilling satisfaction than doing God’s will. There is no more pleasurable pursuit than becoming like Him. There no deeper joy than serving Him. So give Him your all today!
Joe Chase
North Loop church of Christ
Gladewater, TX