When I was in Junior High my folks bought a new home. It was quite an upgrade from where we had been living. It was bigger, in a better neighborhood; my brother and I had our own rooms for the first time. It also had a formal living room.
The formal living room was beautiful. My mom had all her best furniture in it, and it was spotlessly clean. Special guests were invited into the living room, but it was basically off-limits to anyone else. That didn’t bother us, because there was another room where we were totally welcomed. It was called the den.
The den had a color TV, a fireplace, a hide-a-bed couch, and an awesome Lazy-Boy recliner. It had food friendly speckled brown carpeting. The den was where our family spent all of our time. We ate together there and watched TV together there. We totally enjoyed that room!
There are many people who believe in God, love God, worship God, serve God, and obey God…but never enjoy Him. They refer to God in very formal ways, being exact with their doctrinal assessments, however little, if any, enjoyment is associated with him.
The shorter Westminster Catechism states,
The chief aim of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever
John Piper said it might be more accurate to say that: “The chief end of man is to glorify God by enjoying Him forever.” When we enjoy God, He is glorified through our lives.
David said,
Restore to me the joy of your salvation. (Psalm 51:12)
In other words, there is a joy associated with our salvation that can be lost, but it can also be restored. There is a refreshing work of God’s Spirit that brings back the enjoyment and delight we have in God. It removes the off-limits, stuffy formalisms that push everyone away. It causes the things of God and God himself to be more desirable and more enjoyable.
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