What do you enjoy in life – a certain TV show, sleeping, a particular food, being around certain friends, playing a sport, summer, being outside, traveling, or reading a book? I really enjoy the summer months because I love swimming and playing in water, any kind of water – pools, the ocean, lakes. There’s one thing in particular very satisfying to me – swimming laps in a pool I have all to myself. I love cutting through the water as the sun reflects throughout the pool. In fact, I seek out times to be at my neighborhood pool when few or no other people are there so I can enjoy an hour of swimming, pulling, breathing, turning, kicking, and doing it over and over again until I’ve expended all my energy. In some odd way, I’m renewed when I’m physically drained.
Do you remember (or still play) the game Capture the Flag? When I was growing up, we played this game throughout the yards in my neighborhood. The ground we covered in each game probably left us running about a mile per game. I can still remember the hiding spots we used for the flag. I also remember how much fun I had running throughout my neighborhood with friends on a mission that made me feel like a spy.
As a child, I sought after my team’s flag because I had fun playing with my friends, being outside, and running until I couldn’t catch my breath, and now as an adult, I seek after times to swim because I love the way I feel when I’m in the water and how exhausted I feel after exercising in the water. Why? Because . . .
We seek things which delight us. We seek things that make us come alive.
O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory.
Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you.
So I will bless you as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands.
My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and my mouth will praise
you with joyful lips. ~ Psalm 63:1-5
In Psalm 63, King David writes of earnestly seeking after God. Why? Because David enjoyed him, and he felt alive and satisfied being with him. David knew God’s love was better than life (verse 3).
The first question in The Westminster Shorter Catechism (a statement of belief read in some churches) is “What is the chief end of man?” In other words, what is our main purpose in life? The answer The Westminster Shorter Catechism gives to this question is “To glorify God and enjoy him forever.” Our main purpose in life is to enjoy God! The more we understand Psalm 63:3, that God’s love is better than life, the more we will seek him. And, when we seek him, we will find enjoyment in him. When we experience that nothing else can fully satisfy our thirst for love, recognition, confidence, acceptance, strength, and affirmation except for God, we suddenly start seeking him and enjoying him.
Do you enjoy God? Do you enjoy time spent with him? Do you seek him more than your friendships, more than social media, more than gaming, more than athletics, more than entertainment, more than exercising . . . more than swimming? I have to admit I seek all the above more than Jesus when I believe the lie that those things will satisfy me. But, I experience the truth that God’s love is better than life when I’m seeking him, delighting in him, and enjoying him.
What helps me enjoy my Father is knowing he adores me. His love for me overwhelms and satisfies me. Do you believe that God enjoys you?
Zephaniah 3:17 says, “The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.” We will ultimately experience God in our midst, rejoicing over his people with gladness and singing in the coming Kingdom, but this verse is also telling us that God enjoys us right now.
What stood out to you in Zephaniah 3:17?
Is it difficult for you to think of someone enjoying you – someone who is not short with you, someone who does not misunderstand you, someone who loves you just the way you are, someone who sees the potential that is in you?
In my fifteen years of working with students, I have lost three to their deaths. One student I knew for nine years, another I knew for about four years, and another I taught for only seven days. If there was anything these students learned from seven classes or seven years of ministry, I hope they heard that God loves them, delights in them, and rejoices over them.
According to Zephaniah 3:17, and Jesus’s death and resurrection, God cherishes you and marvels at your beauty, your design, and who you are. I hope my students’ who are no longer with us heard this truth from me, I hope my current students hear and embrace this truth, and I hope that you experience the joy of enjoying God’s better than life love.