Kick Up Your Heels
What She Said - Part 6
Leigh Ann Betters, Guest Writer
Today’s Treasure
For the Lord your God is living among you. He is a mighty savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.
Zephaniah 3:7 (NLT)
Today is Saturday. In the Old Testament, Saturday was the Sabbath, the day that God declared to be a day of rest. In his book, Sabbath, Dan Allender wrote these words:
“…Sabbath rest is entered when we refuse to be bound by complexity or drowned by despair. We enter delight only as we gaze equally and simultaneously at creation and redemption, in spite of the darkness that surrounds us…” these words:
“…Sabbath rest is entered when we refuse to be bound by complexity or drowned by despair. We enter delight only as we gaze equally and simultaneously at creation and redemption, in spite of the darkness that surrounds us…”
While Christians hold many different positions on how we should “keep the Sabbath,” Scripture’s command to “delight in the Lord” is clear. In fact, it is what we were created to do.
Mankind’s first home, the Garden of Eden, symbolizes delight, and the word Eden actually means “delight.” Genesis 2:9 (Amplified)
tells us:
And the Lord God planted a garden (oasis) in the east, in Eden (delight, land of happiness)…
Eden was a beautiful garden where Adam and Eve lived in perfect harmony with each other and with nature before the Fall. But what made it a place of delight was the presence of God and their perfect fellowship with Him. When they sinned, they were banished from the garden and life became tiring, stressful, and gloomy. They lost their joy, their delight.
The good news is that God’s redemption plan heals that broken relationship through Jesus! And He not only wants to forgive our sin, but He also wants to restore our joy!
The concept of delight appears approximately 110 times in Scripture, mostly in the Old Testament, and especially in the Psalms.
Then my soul will rejoice in the Lord and delight in his salvation.
Psalm 35:9
Delight in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Psalm 37:4
I will delight in Your statutes; I will not forget Your word.
Psalm 119:16
In these verses, the word delight is used as a verb, a call to action. Like the quote I shared earlier puts it, this happens when we “gaze equally and simultaneously at creation and redemption.” In other words, when we gaze at who we are (sinners in need of a Savior) AND who He is (Jesus, our God, and our Redeemer), we experience delight.
Incredibly, God doesn’t simply command me to delight in Him. HE delights in ME. The God of the universe delights in US!
The LORD directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives.
Psalm 37:23 NLT
…He rescued me because He delights in me.
Psalm 18:19 (NLT)
For the Lord your God is living among you…He will take delight in you with gladness…He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.
Zephaniah 3:17 (NLT)
How is it possible that we could bring God such delight? We find the answer in the New Testament.
After Jesus was baptized, He came up immediately out of the water; and behold, the heavens were opened… and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased and delighted!”
Matthew 3:16-17, Amplified Bible
God the Father delights in me because He first delights in Jesus.
God’s delight for us is vividly portrayed in the actions of the father in the Parable of the Prodigal Son. Luke 15.20 describes the father’s reaction when he sees his son in the distance:
But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.
Luke 15:20
The father, who has been watching and waiting for his son to return, is so excited that we can imagine him hiking up his robes as he races to meet him. Can’t you just feel his joy when he throws his arms around his son and kisses him! The father is so delighted his son has come home that he orders his servants to prepare a feast to celebrate!
When we realize WE are that prodigal son welcomed by OUR Heavenly Father. we can’t help but delight in His love for us. This kind of love compels us to respond with joy.
LIFE-GIVING ENCOURAGEMENT
In Monday’s devotion on “new beginnings,” Keri encouraged us to be intentional in the way we live out our faith each day. Sadly, even with the best intentions, all of us have failed in some way this week. We have allowed the cares of this world -- busyness, fear, anxiety, jealousy, etc. – to rob us of our peace and joy.
But….just like the prodigal son, we can RUN back to our loving Father, Who is waiting for us with open arms, ready to embrace us, lavish us with His amazing grace, and delight in us once again.
Are there other women in your life who could benefit from a daily dose of encouragement? Forward this email so they can click on this link to Subscribe to Daily Treasure to be better equipped to walk by faith on the pathway God has marked out for them.
Sharon W. Betters is author of Treasures of Encouragement, Treasures in Darkness, co-author of Treasures of Faith. and co-author with Susan Hunt of Aging with Grace, Flourishing in an Anti-Aging Culture. She is Director of Resource Development and co-founder of MARKINC.org, a non-profit organization that offers help and hope to hurting people. Sharon enjoys quality time with her husband, children, fourteen grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.
Contact Sharon with comments or questions at dailytreasure@markinc.org.