The Heart’s Delight

The Heart’s Delight

Read: Matthew 22:34-39

“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment.”

Matthew 22:37-38

“Our only business is to love and delight ourselves in God.”

—Brother Lawrence

IN WORD We live in an age in which many people think God is distant. We are amazed, then, when we learn that the relationship we are called to have with Him exceeds any other relationship in its level of intimacy. We are reluctant to believe such a truth. It is a theological proposition, perhaps, that God desires an intimate relationship with us—something that preachers say to convince us of His love, but that only the superspiritual actually experience. We may wonder, deep in our hearts, if this is true for all of us.

But not only is it true, it is one of the major emphases of the entire Bible. Not only does God love us and we are to love Him; He delights in us and we are to delight in Him. This is no sterile act of our will—a love that must press on in spite of the coldness of our hearts. And God’s love for us is not portrayed as a struggle for Him, either; He does not simply tolerate us in spite of His lack of feeling. No, the feeling is real. This relationship in its fullness is the most pleasurable relationship we could possibly have—with anyone.

IN DEED Meditate today on what Jesus says here in the context of two Old Testament verses: “Delight yourself in the Lord” (Psalm 37:4) and “He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing” (Zephaniah 3:17). Think of that. God sings! Not just about anything, but about us! And He asks us to return the feeling. It’s an amazing invitation.

Jesus intended this revolutionary truth to sink into our lives. It is not just a pleasant pat on the back that will help us have a better day. It is the truth that shapes our hearts for a lifetime. An eternal lifetime. Allow it to do its work in you, and see your relationship with God transformed.