Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever. 

I love my wife and I love spending time with her.  She’s my best friend.  Her presence brings calm to my being; I am always better with her than without her.  I enjoy her intelligence and her wit and even her sarcasm.  As an introvert, I admire the way she can “work a room” and talk to anyone.  I am grateful for the way that she can break the tension of a difficult situation with humor.  I know her better than anyone else and she may know me better than I know myself.  In September we will have been a couple for 40 years.  As such, she is dear to my heart and ever present in my thoughts.  In short, I enjoy her.  This week I was challenged in a devotional by John Piper based on Psalm 51 that discusses the fact that David recognized that his sin was due to the fact that God did not have the place in his feelings and thoughts that He should.   I fear that I don’t enjoy God as I should and clearly this is something that I need to work on.  What about you.  Do you enjoy God?  If not, what prevents it; what is the affect; and what is the remedy?

If we don’t fully enjoy God as we should, I would suggest it’s a lack of time with Him.  I enjoy my wife because I’ve spent time with her and have taken the time to know her.  Sometimes it’s hard to keep up with each other because we get busy and when we do, we become distant.  The same is true with God.  Family responsibilities, jobs, church activities, etc. all demand our time.  For those of us that are ill, it’s often the mental hurdle or mental fog that we allow to keep us from time with God.  I know that since the onset of my illness, mornings are rough for me.  I used to start my day with scripture and prayer.  Now I ease into my day and often by the time I feel that my mental capacities have kicked in, I feel guilty that I haven’t done anything useful  and think I’ll spend time with God later only to find that the day has ended and it hasn’t happened.  Further, the lack of deadlines allows it to slide.  When I was able to work, I knew that I only had so much time to have devotions, get dressed and get to work.  Without deadlines, there is a lack of urgency.  I often hear people who are ill complain that their friends become distant or disappear because of their illness.  Is that not, in a sense, what we do to God?  We let our busyness and/or our illness keep us from time with Him thinking that He understands and He’ll be there when we have the time or energy rather than making Him a priority.  Christ, our model for godly living, knew that the only way to enjoy the Father was to spend time with Him.  He was a busy man; people were demanding His time and attention; He had work to do and short time to do it, and yet He found the time to go to a secluded spot and spend time with His Father.

So what’s the risk if we put it off?  In David’s case we see that the affect was sexual sin.  In short, he drifted from God and didn’t have the ability to overcome the temptation.  We too are more likely to fall into temptation when we are not firmly grounded in God.  In fact, we lose are greatest defense when we allow our relationship with God to become distant.  We lose the sense that He is with us and, therefore, feel alone in our battles.  We forget to “acknowledge Him in all our ways” and thereby lose direction.  When we wander away from Him, we forget that He is our fortress, our strength, and our guiding light.  Further, we allow ourselves to be tossed around by all of our trials because we attempt to manage them on our own rather than looking to God for direction.  Sadly, we tend to lure ourselves into a false sense of security because of our past closeness and what we know about God; it is not our history or our knowledge that strengthens, protects and guides us…it is the closeness of an ongoing relationship with our Lord.

The remedy is simply stated in James 4:8: “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.”  Similarly, Isaiah 55:6-7 tells us:  “Seek the Lord while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near.”  In both of these passages the next thought is to cleanse, purify and turn from wickedness.  As in any relationship, it’s a matter of time and attention.  When we spend time with God and draw close to Him, we begin to enjoy Him and He delights in us.  When we enjoy God in this life, we are promised that we will enjoy Him in the next as well.  Further, we will dwell with Him then.  What a beautiful thought.

God loves and desires us, when we truly seek to love and enjoy Him and make Him the greatest priority in our lives, we reap so many benefits.  Here are a few from the proof texts for answer to question one of the Westminster Shorter Catechism shown above.

Psalm 16:5-11”

• The Lord is the portion of our inheritance and our cup
• God supports us.
• We find ourselves in pleasant places and our heritage is beautiful
• We are instructed
• Because God is with us, we won’t be shaken.
• We will be glad and rejoice.
• We will dwell securely.
• We will know the path to life
• God’s presence will provide fullness of joy.
• We will receive pleasures evermore.

Isaiah 12:2:

• God is our salvation.
• We can trust and not be afraid.
• God is our strength and song.

Psalm 144:15

• We are blessed.

Revelation 21:3-4 In the next life:

• God will dwell among us.
• God will dry our tears.
• There will be no more death
• There will be no mourning, crying or pain.

We enjoy the presence of imperfect human beings with limited wisdom and talents.  Should we not enjoy the One who is faultless, all wise and all powerful so much more?  He has invited us and offers not only Himself, but eternal benefits as well.  Love Him; keep Him close and ever present in your thoughts; and enjoy Him both now and in the next life.