I Will Enjoy God!

Although I do not think New Year's resolutions are very helpful in some ways, I do think they can be marvelously helpful in other ways.  Some of the ways that New Year resolutions can be helpful is that they call us back to what we know, to what we believe, and to what we value, which we may have neglected or even forgotten. Making a New Year's resolution can be like cleaning the attic or the garage at the house, or it can be like finally getting to that very important project you know you need to do, but have somehow failed to do. Then suddenly in a whirlwind of energetic planning and intention, one says, "I will do such and such."  Then one puts it in a calendar, plans a budget, and makes lists that will enable him to accomplish this task. Resolutions are like that. They can also be like waking up from a dream or coming into clear awareness of an idea, waking and thinking with clarity of thought, insight, and purpose.

Resolutions are not guarantees of anything.  They certainly do not mean that we will never again forget or neglect what is important.  But they are like signposts that stay in our lives, constantly reminding us of things that we need to come back to over and over again.

Perhaps we should start this new year of 2013 with a heart prayer and resolution: "I want us to enjoy God! I will seek to enjoy God! I will pray about enjoying God! I will give of my energy and life this year to enjoy God!" 

Now to do that we must truly know about the true God as He has revealed Himself in special revelation. And we must know Him personally through faith in Christ. But we must come to see that everything, and I mean everything, that God has made us to be in our humanity, all that God made and is making us to be in our Christianity (regeneration, sanctification, and future glorification), and all that God would have us to be and do in the world as the church, all presupposes and reflects on the value and worthiness of God.  And nothing speaks more of how much we love, value, and want God than our enjoyment of Him.

Do you enjoy God? Would you pray about enjoying God? Would you make it a goal and a heart-felt request of God to make you someone who enjoys God?  Would you be willing to tell others how much you enjoy God? Would you enjoy God in pain, disappointment, hardship, struggle, and even tragedy? Would enjoy God in prosperity and good fortune? Jesus said in John 17:3 that to know God is eternal life, for to know Him is to love Him, and to love Him is to enjoy Him, and to enjoy Him is to live with Him forever.