My Deepest Joy

What would I do for a twenty-four hour period of time if the only criteria was to pursue my deepest joy? This is a question posed to me in the book Sabbath by Dan Allender. This is a question that ever believer in Jesus should answer at certain points in their lives. Allender posses this question, about joy, in relation to the topic of the Sabbath. He states that the Sabbath must be a 24 hour period that is a delight in God, which is lead by the fact in that what we enjoy the most should be God and a delight in Him. John Piper states this idea of delighting in God with the fact that God is most glorified in His children when they are most satisfied in Him. We as humans are most satisfied when we are the happiest and filled with joy. The Apostle Paul makes it clearest when in his letter to the church at Philippi he commands them to rejoice in the Lord.

So what would I do for my Sabbath rest, fullest joy, and satisfaction in God? For me, I find my greatest joy in the blessings and gifts of God that are eternal. Yes, I find joy in many blessings from God that are not eternal but I find that a fuller joy and something that I would choose would come in the gifts from God that last, for eternity. When I mean blessings and gifts from God, I mean virtually anything. Anything that we, God’s children have, is a gift from God. Our jobs, cars, houses, retirements, health, sports teams, and many other material things, are gift from God but they are gifts that fade and do not last. These gifts and blessings are nice and have brought me much joy and happiness, like when my son was born the day before the Steeler's won the Super Bowl. But these are not the blessings that I find the most satisfaction and joy in God with. It is the eternal that I find true joy and delight in God.

So what blessings would I chose to experience for the twenty four hour Sabbath delight in God? I find my greatest joy in the blessings from God that are eternal, blessings like relationships, worship, acts of compassion, generosity, and exposing the beautiful words of God. It might wound weird and not like an American Sabbath but I would spend my twenty-four hour period of full joy enjoying others as we delight in God and His work in our lives. My wife and I have very close friends that we love to spend time with and when we are together, as our children play together, we sit around, eat amazing food, enjoy good conversation, and love each other as we delight in one another and God in our lives. As much as my wife and I are introverts and feel exhausted by large groups of people, including our faith family, I find that some of the most satisfying times are spent with them, as I celebrate God in worship, teach them what God continues to teach me in His word, and serve the hurt broken world, or even care for each other. These are some of the greatest times of joy in my life and I believe some of the deepest times of satisfaction and joy in God, the One who created these relationships and blesses me with the chance to love others and Him.