Enjoying God In A Godless Society
I had discussed with you sometime ago about what it means to ‘enjoy’ God in a previous post. If you missed that, you may click here now to read all about that before continuing with this piece. Because I am going to pick it up from where we left off.
What I really want to dialogue with you today about is, how to enjoy God in a world that is very skeptical about God. You say, but why should I care about God, and what does he have to do with my purpose? Well, he has got everything to do with our purpose. Remember, man’s chief purpose is ‘to enjoy God and to glorify him’. Nothing more, nothing less. Life is about knowing, experiencing or enjoying God.
But the thing is, we often miss the exciting part about this God concept. It is a call to enjoy. Someone has said that it is all about God. Yes, in a self-centered, self-seeking world such as ours, it is important to remind us that Faith is all about God. That is for ever true. Yet, there is a good sense in which it is also about us; about you. God is all sufficient without us, happy, fulfilled and lacking nothing. But he chose to make us so as to lavish his love and kindness on us anyway.
He did not make us just for his amusement. When it comes to the issue of the human race, it is a serious issue with God. It is true that we are for his pleasure. But it is in the sense that we pleasure or delight his heart. He takes unending delight in loving and blessing us. Of course, God can do whatever he wills with us; he is sovereign. But he is also not a power monger. He chose us in love, and for love. In a good sense, from his own perspective at least, it was all about us; it was for our sake that he chose us. ‘Long before he laid down earth's foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love. Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure he took in planning this!) He wanted us to enter into the celebration of his lavish gift-giving by the hand of his beloved Son’- Ephesians 1: 4-6.
Seen this way, the God factor does not seem so frightening after all. Here is one who is infinitely mightier saying, ‘I want to enter a holy union with you so I can defend you, and enrich your life’. This, then, is the first step in enjoying God in a godless society- to know that he is good. That is his essential nature. His motives are not only pure, they are altogether selfless. It is for our benefit that he beckons on us.
A powerful and very wealthy man who lived thousands of years ago had this same revelation. His name was David. He was a smart guy by all standards in his generation. In fact, he grew to become the leader of one of the most influential nations on the earth today. He had so much going for him. But he also had God in his life, or rather, he allowed God to have him.He had a radically different view of God than most folks do today. This is his invitation to us:
'Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good;
Blessed is the man who trusts in Him' - Psalm 34: 8
‘Taste and see that the Lord is good.’ That sounds to me like a healthy challenge. It’s like saying, ‘If only you are willing to risk giving God a chance, I bet you will love the encounter!’ It seems to me like it was an admittance that humans, since after the Fall, tend to run away from God, instead of to him. But here is a king who was saying, ‘I have tasted him, and all I experience is goodness. Come join me.’ It is a kind invitation: taste and see that the Lord is good.
How can we know his goodness unless we ‘taste’ him? How can we enjoy the wonders of his person, the blessedness of his fullness, unless we fellowship with him? That is the second step towards enjoying God – spending quality time with him in fellowship. That is a very beautiful word, fellowship. Do you know what it means? I checked the meaning at Dictionary.Com, this is what fellowship means: ‘friendly relationship; companionship: the fellowship of father and son.’
That is so neat; God is saying, “Be my friend. Enter into a companionship with me.’ If that doesn’t blow your mind with possibilities, I don’t know what will. ‘The fellowship of father and son.’ That is a fitting illustration. The father seeks not his welfare but that of the child, in an ideal world. He longs to share with his son, to bless him, to impart him with all he has or has learnt. It is a relationship that is birthed by the desire to give and bless and make whole.
‘Taste and see that the Lord is good’ seem to guarantee that we will find him good if only we shall ‘taste’. This is a nature of God that is not emphasized enough in our world. He gets blamed for any evil or mishap or pain. Meantime, he says, ‘Come, be my friend, see how much I can be for you.’ To be sure, fellowshipping with God may not shield us entirely from pain, but the one who longs for our companionship says,
“ Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by your name;
You are Mine.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you.
When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned,
Nor shall the flame scorch you.
For I am the LORD your God…
Since you were precious in My sight,
You have been honored,
And I have loved you…”
Isaiah 43: 1-4
How can we resist such a God, or be skeptic about him? It’s time to taste and see that the Lord is good! His only invitation is, 'Come and enter into friendly relationship with me, the fellowship of father and son'.
If you are reading this, and thinking, 'how do I enter into a friendly relationship with God?', may I suggest that all you need to do now is to ask Jesus Christ to be your savior and friend. If you have further questions about this, feel free to contact me and I will be glad to help.
I had discussed with you sometime ago about what it means to ‘enjoy’ God in a previous post. If you missed that, you may click here now to read all about that before continuing with this piece. Because I am going to pick it up from where we left off.
What I really want to dialogue with you today about is, how to enjoy God in a world that is very skeptical about God. You say, but why should I care about God, and what does he have to do with my purpose? Well, he has got everything to do with our purpose. Remember, man’s chief purpose is ‘to enjoy God and to glorify him’. Nothing more, nothing less. Life is about knowing, experiencing or enjoying God.
But the thing is, we often miss the exciting part about this God concept. It is a call to enjoy. Someone has said that it is all about God. Yes, in a self-centered, self-seeking world such as ours, it is important to remind us that Faith is all about God. That is for ever true. Yet, there is a good sense in which it is also about us; about you. God is all sufficient without us, happy, fulfilled and lacking nothing. But he chose to make us so as to lavish his love and kindness on us anyway.
He did not make us just for his amusement. When it comes to the issue of the human race, it is a serious issue with God. It is true that we are for his pleasure. But it is in the sense that we pleasure or delight his heart. He takes unending delight in loving and blessing us. Of course, God can do whatever he wills with us; he is sovereign. But he is also not a power monger. He chose us in love, and for love. In a good sense, from his own perspective at least, it was all about us; it was for our sake that he chose us. ‘Long before he laid down earth's foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love. Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure he took in planning this!) He wanted us to enter into the celebration of his lavish gift-giving by the hand of his beloved Son’- Ephesians 1: 4-6.
Seen this way, the God factor does not seem so frightening after all. Here is one who is infinitely mightier saying, ‘I want to enter a holy union with you so I can defend you, and enrich your life’. This, then, is the first step in enjoying God in a godless society- to know that he is good. That is his essential nature. His motives are not only pure, they are altogether selfless. It is for our benefit that he beckons on us.
A powerful and very wealthy man who lived thousands of years ago had this same revelation. His name was David. He was a smart guy by all standards in his generation. In fact, he grew to become the leader of one of the most influential nations on the earth today. He had so much going for him. But he also had God in his life, or rather, he allowed God to have him.He had a radically different view of God than most folks do today. This is his invitation to us:
'Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good;
Blessed is the man who trusts in Him' - Psalm 34: 8
‘Taste and see that the Lord is good.’ That sounds to me like a healthy challenge. It’s like saying, ‘If only you are willing to risk giving God a chance, I bet you will love the encounter!’ It seems to me like it was an admittance that humans, since after the Fall, tend to run away from God, instead of to him. But here is a king who was saying, ‘I have tasted him, and all I experience is goodness. Come join me.’ It is a kind invitation: taste and see that the Lord is good.
How can we know his goodness unless we ‘taste’ him? How can we enjoy the wonders of his person, the blessedness of his fullness, unless we fellowship with him? That is the second step towards enjoying God – spending quality time with him in fellowship. That is a very beautiful word, fellowship. Do you know what it means? I checked the meaning at Dictionary.Com, this is what fellowship means: ‘friendly relationship; companionship: the fellowship of father and son.’
That is so neat; God is saying, “Be my friend. Enter into a companionship with me.’ If that doesn’t blow your mind with possibilities, I don’t know what will. ‘The fellowship of father and son.’ That is a fitting illustration. The father seeks not his welfare but that of the child, in an ideal world. He longs to share with his son, to bless him, to impart him with all he has or has learnt. It is a relationship that is birthed by the desire to give and bless and make whole.
‘Taste and see that the Lord is good’ seem to guarantee that we will find him good if only we shall ‘taste’. This is a nature of God that is not emphasized enough in our world. He gets blamed for any evil or mishap or pain. Meantime, he says, ‘Come, be my friend, see how much I can be for you.’ To be sure, fellowshipping with God may not shield us entirely from pain, but the one who longs for our companionship says,
“ Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by your name;
You are Mine.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you.
When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned,
Nor shall the flame scorch you.
For I am the LORD your God…
Since you were precious in My sight,
You have been honored,
And I have loved you…”
Isaiah 43: 1-4
How can we resist such a God, or be skeptic about him? It’s time to taste and see that the Lord is good! His only invitation is, 'Come and enter into friendly relationship with me, the fellowship of father and son'.
If you are reading this, and thinking, 'how do I enter into a friendly relationship with God?', may I suggest that all you need to do now is to ask Jesus Christ to be your savior and friend. If you have further questions about this, feel free to contact me and I will be glad to help.
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