The Enjoyment Of God Series

One of the biggest attractions in all of history was the smallest man alive-General Tom

Thumb. He was only 25 inches tall and weighed only 15 pounds. Over 20 million people paid

to see him sing and dance. He charms his way into the hearts of the greatest people of his

day-Queen Victoria of England, Queen Isabella of Spain, the Duke of Wellington and

Abraham Lincoln, just to name a few.

He was born January 4, 1838 as Charles Sherwood Stratton. Oddly enough, he was a big

baby weighing 9lbs. 2ozs. at birth, but at 5 months old he weighed 15lbs. 2ozs., and that is

where he stayed. In this way he was radically different than Jesus for Dr. Luke tells us in

Luke 2:52 that he grew in wisdom and stature. Jesus grew up as a normal man physically.

Tom Thumb did have some things in common with Jesus, however. Both were born as

sons of a carpenter. Jesus was not conceived by Joseph but he was his earthly father. Both

began as little mites who became mighty. Both remained single all their lives. Both drew

large crowds. All of these are trivial and incidental. That which they really had in common

was their adoration of their heavenly Father. Tom Thumb wrote, "I read the Bible every day,

and am fond of reading the New Testament. I adore my Creator and know that He is good to

us all. He has given me a small body, but I believe He has not contracted my heart, nor brain,

nor soul. I shall praise His name evermore."

The smallest man who ever lived and the greatest man who ever lived had in common with

each other the spirit of worship. Tom Thumb praised God for his little body with it's big

heart and soul. The angels praised God for the little baby of Bethlehem who would grow up

and cause people to praise God all over the world. The more you examine the Christmas

story, the more you discover that the one thing all of the persons involved had in common

was the spirit of praise.

Mary begins her song, "My soul praises the Lord." Zechariah's song begins, "Praise be to

the Lord." The angels suddenly appear, "Praising God and saying glory to God in the

highest." The shepherds in verse 20, "returned, glorifying and praising God."

One of the major differences between a Christian Christmas and a secular Christmas is

the praise to God. The secular soul does not rise above the materialism of the season, but the

spiritual soul recognizes that the essence of the celebration is in praising God for the Gift of

His Son. The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. This is also the chief

end of Christmas. The way to have a merry Christmas is to do what all the characters did on

that first Christmas-they enjoyed God and they praised Him..

We are to enjoy God forever but we do not have to wait until eternity to begin this

enjoyment. We start now, and the way we enjoy God is by praising Him. Praise is not only a

pleasure for the receiver but for the giver as well. This is a case where we can see it is more

blessed to give than to receive. We are, no doubt, more blest in the giving of praise to God

than He is by receiving it. To be a praiser of God is to be in the highest state of joy. All

other happiness falls short. The goal of Christmas is to enjoy God.

Martha was a wonderful Christian woman and Jesus loved her greatly, but she was so busy

preparing a meal for Jesus she did not enjoy Jesus. She missed the enjoyment of his presence

and His teaching and the result is she was rebuked for trying to rob Mary of her enjoyment

of these things. Jesus said Mary made the right and wise choice. The point Jesus was making

was that he wants to be enjoyed. His greatest enjoyment is in being enjoyed. This is God's

greatest pleasure as well. More than service even, God wants us to enjoy who He is and to

express that enjoyment is praise. The simplest definition of worship that I have come up with

is-the enjoyment of God. If you truly praise God you are enjoying God and thereby fulfilling

the very purpose for your existence.

The angels and the shepherds had this in common on that first Christmas: They were

enjoying God and what He was doing in history. When a Christian says Merry Christmas, it is

to mean a whole lot more than, enjoy your gifts, your food, your family, your friends, your

parties, etc.: It is to mean, above all else, enjoy God! In various places in the Bible even the