By Shirley Rosemarie Evans
“Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will grant you the desires of your heart.” Ps 37:4
The word delight comes from the Latin word “delectare”, meaning to charm, please or allure. Biblical delight refers to having pleasure, joy or satisfaction. It spiritual appreciation of our God. It is interesting to me that the word “delight” comprises the word light, and really, as we say or think of the word “delight”, we feel light, pleasure. I dare you to think or say the word ‘delight’ and a smile not come to your lips. This is how we are encouraged to think and feel about our relationship with Christ. It should not be burdensome or a chore, but the exact opposite. It is also interesting that scripture tells us in 1 John 1:5, “God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.” So, we serve a God who is always pure and filled with the light; in His presence, all is light and fullness of joy, and we, His people, experience this light as we delight ourselves in Him. In turn, we light up the world. Some would say that is a win-win.
And there is more – the key verse tells us that as we delight in Him, He will grant us the desires of our hearts. Here is the key to living your best life: a life spent delighting in who our God is, resulting in a heart whose every desire is met. We could say it’s a no-brainer.
Here’s the thing, though: a heart that delights itself in God will find that its desires change. The things you used to chase after no longer glisten and seem so attractive. Your heart now mirrors the heart of Jesus, and His desires become your desires. That represents freedom in Christ from everything that this world holds dear. A life well spent living in the abundance of God’s goodness. Does that mean that we won’t have material wealth? We may well do, or not. But more importantly, it means we are not chasing wealth accumulation, and we are not defined by what we own.
So how do we delight ourselves in the Lord? Well, we spend the next seven parts on a journey to delight using the following acronym.
D – Decide
E – Enjoy
L – Learn
I – Intimacy
G – Gladness
H – Humility
T – Trust
Fasten your seatbelt and join us on our journey to delighting ourselves in the Lord. We will stop at each point, delving into biblical morsels, challenging ourselves to live out God’s best for us. We will close each day with a brief prayer. After each step, take time to reflect on what you have read and how it speaks to your heart. Take notes of any key takeaway points and any further prayer points that come to you.
Are you ready?
