Find Your Delight

“⁴⁷for I find my delight in your commandments,

which I love.

⁴⁸I will lift up my hands toward your commandments, which I love,

and I will meditate on your statutes.”

— Psalm 119:47-48 (ESV)

“I find my delight in your commandments,” this is quite the verse and realization. But isn’t it true and with the LORD on a much larger scale.

My wife Lori is a teacher and I am in adult education and what we have found over the years is that people thrive in structure. They are keenly aware of expectations and can focus on producing results when they follow and meet and exceed those expectations. Having rules and guidelines to remove ambiguity and decision making for all of the little things allowing for energy to be expended on achieving results and not on meaningless tasks.

God gives us commandments and rules and expectations on our living life in this world. Some of those are grand, the Ten Commandments and the great commission, and others are less so, caring for the needy. But the one thing we can count on is that these commandments, rules, and expectations are in place for our guidance and direction as we traverse this world we live in as we prepare for our forever home, heaven.

As people in a classroom, we do not look at the structure and think, “wow these are great for me to not have to think about, I can just do”. But in this world, we can and should be looking at the commandments of the LORD as just that, “great for me”. We may not “delight” in the rules and expectations of this world, but we can and should find it in the commandments of the LORD. We should see His promise, His Word, His rules, His precepts, His commandments, and His statues as the structure that keeps us moving through this world as we prepare for our home.

I follow a very strict regimented disciplined daily routine that ensures I complete things on time and I am able to move on to the next with little thought. I am glad to have the commandments of the LORD to drive me forward in the things that matter as I move through this world. I find delight in knowing all my decisions can be made with Him in mind and that when doing so, I am headed in the right direction.

What is your feeling on commandments? Do you see them as restrictive and rigid? What if you saw them more as guidelines to keep you moving and were able to see and find delight in them?

Remember and Turn Back

Jesus knows the condition of our heart. He knows where we are in our relationship with Him. Regardless of how you may be fooling yourself and/or others, Christ knows.

“⁴But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.” – Revelation 2:4 (ESV)

Even as He does know the current condition of our heart, Jesus also knows where we were at one point and that we do have the capacity to get back there. It is however a conscious decision to turn back to Him and get right in our following of the LORD.

“²I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. ³I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name’s sake, and you have not grown weary.” – Revelation 2:2-3 (ESV)

We know where we were. We know that we are sinners and were without salvation at one time. We accepted the gift of salvation that was give by Christ and progressed doing the work the LORD had for us. And then, as noted in verse four above, we see that we have fallen away from that work. We turned away from the LORD, maybe not consciously, but turned away none the less.

“⁵Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first.” – Revelation 2:5a (ESV)

This is where we are, we need to get back to our communion with the LORD. We need to re-engage with Him and find our way back to Him. We need to get back to where we were at first. Back to endurance, back to calling out evil, back to recognizing and calling our the false, and back to acting and doing the name of Jesus. We have turned away and abandoned the LORD, now is our time to turn back to Him and get back to work spreading His Word, the gospel, to all the world.

Where are you in your relationship with the LORD? Have you turned away and toward yourself? What if you remembered and turn back to Jesus and begin again doing the works you did when you first came to know Him?

Meditate of God’s Law

“⁸This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.” – Joshua 1:8 (ESV)

God is speaking to Joshua directly here. Moses has died and Joshua has been tasked with leading the people into the promised land. A big task, yes, but God will be with them and here He is telling them how to go about thing. They are to follow the Law as it is written and not deviate. The thing is, as noted in Deuteronomy, they did not have everything written in books to read and take with them, there was reliance on the passing of Law down from person to person and generation to generation. As such, God has given the command to no only read and know the Law, but to “meditate on it day and night”.

This is the command to us and not just the Israelite people. We have to not only read, know, and understand the Word of God, we are to “meditate on it day and night” to ensure that we are living it out daily. It is easy for us to read God’s Word as we have bibles readily available, in many different version and even electronically. We even carry it with us (in the form of apps on our phones). Yet, do we really know and understand His Word. Do we “meditate on it day and night”?

I have on my desk a stack of Bible Verses for memorization. This is my start to meditation. They are right in front of me and I see them and reference them throughout the day. I am not just looking at God’s Word in the mornings as I have my time to study, I am reviewing His Word all day even if for just a moment to read through the verses in front of me. See the last part of verse eight above to see that we will find success in when we are in the Word of God and following His Law carefully. In my interactions with others I have God’s Word and the example of Jesus at top of mind leading to efficient and effective interactions.

Just having the information of God’s Word available is great, as we do have more access today than was available in biblical times. Yet that information is essentially useless in our day to day walk with Christ if we are not keeping it at the forefront of our minds and actions. We have to read, know, and understand God’s Word and then we “meditate on it day and night”.

What is your approach to God’s Law? Are you one that has the information available and then seeks to look it up to determine your next move? What if you were to read, know, understand, and “meditate on it day and night” and live it out always?

Home with Joy and for Rest and Replenishment

Being out there in the world is hard. It is challenging and tiring and frankly a battle at every turn. We are going to expend ourselves fully in pursuit. We are to be pursuing the Father. We are to be out there doing the work that He has for us in this world. We are to give all that we have in the pursuit of doing His work.

“⁴Restore our fortunes, O LORD,

like streams in the Negeb!

⁵Those who sow in tears

shall reap with shouts of joy!

⁶He who goes out weeping,

bearing the seed for sowing,

shall come home with shouts of joy,

bringing his sheaves with him.”

— Psalm 126:4-6 (ESV)

And what after we have expended all that we are to sow the seeds of the LORD, we come home with joy in our hearts for the work is worth it. We will come home rejoicing at the work and with us we bring the satisfaction of knowing that we have sown the seeds of the LORD where He would have us sow. We come home with joy in our hearts even as we are weary from the work, knowing that the LORD will restore us fully so that we are able to go out the next day and do the same.

“⁷Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. ⁸For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. ⁹And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” – Galatians 6:7-9 (ESV)

It is in the sowing for the LORD that we find joy. We are rewarded with and thanks to that which we sow. If we are out there for ourselves, we will reap yes, but the reward will require more work, without rest or joy. But, when we are out there for the LORD, we have His Word to provide rest and replenishment. We find joy in the work and that joy leads to rest so that we can again make our way out for more work the next day.

Yes, we are to be out there doing the work of the LORD and yes, we will get tired from the work. When we return home after the long day of doing the work for the LORD we will find joy in the work and rest in the Word. When we return home we are to rejoice in the work we accomplished and then get back in the Word of the LORD to find rest and replenishment for the next day’s work for Him.

Our home is not just a place for us to anchor, but a place to find joy. We come home, whether our personal home or church home with joy in our heart and seeking rest and replenishment to go out and continue the work of the LORD and returning home again with joy and seeking rest and replenishment to go out and continue the work of the LORD again.

What are you finding at home? Are you finding more of the same, work to keep up? What if you were to do the work of the LORD in the world and come home with joy in your heart and seeking rest and replenishment from the Word to go out again the following day?