What is delight for you?
How much of ourselves do we want to surrender to our Lord Jesus Christ? I’ve always questioned myself about my abilities; my aptitude and heart to serve. It is only later that I realized how unimportant our abilities are in giving glory to the Highest. As long as we serve with that great pleasure in our heart, we are at the top of our ministry. In the first place, our service to God should not be measured, because if we are to compare how much He has done for us, our lives are not enough.
Imagining the Psalmist who is speaking and exalting the Lord in Psalms 119: 35, which is “Make me walk in the path of Your commandments, For I delight in it,” it feels like he is surrendering his whole life to God and asking him to give more load because he is very zealous with his ministry for God. Are we also like him?
As of this moment, I may not be like the Psalmist, but my heart is yearning and screaming with all my love for the Lord. I want to serve Him and give Him all the glory there is I have in me. Looking into the verse from Psalm 100: 2 which is “Serve the Lord with Gladness,” I know in my heart that He is definitely showering me with all the joy I could ever receive to prepare me in my mission in life. For the longest time, I’ve been at war with myself, and after meeting all the wonderful people I have now mentoring me with my leadership, little by little, God spoke unto me what He wants me to be. I may not be seeing it wholly now, but I am now about to get there.
This week challenged me to focus more. I am blessed that this topic gave me more realizations about serving Him without any doubts and fears.
Two Perspectives in Following the Lord
There are two perspectives on following the Lord; one is seeing it as an obligation, and the other is looking at it as a privilege The former is considering the commands as a rule or a peace from knowing that you are doing the will of God. The latter is acknowledging the awe you have in your soul of serving God. Both are pleasing to the Lord, but I prefer the latter than the former.
In Jeremiah 17: 9, it is written that “The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?” How many of us can say that we are living our purpose? The joint force of our heart and mind is too powerful, that we can even convince ourselves to think otherwise of the bigger plan of God. I’ve doubted myself a couple of times, and even worried about my capabilities as a leader. But I’m absolutely blessed because deep in my heart, I’ve got my aspirations of serving the Lord without any hesitations.
Stop believing that you are not good enough to do anything. Start thinking of ways on how to take step one before even backing off and letting yourself down. Sometimes our hearts make us believe that we are nothing. All you have to do is take control.
3 Common Pitfalls
Today, I would love to share 3 common pitfalls that hinder Christians from serving with delight. This is a wake up call to all of us; that the moment we accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we have acknowledged our obligations to serve Him wholeheartedly.
Let’s look into these 3 common pitfalls. There may be other pitfalls, but these will definitely ring a bell.
1. You don’t know what delight means. And because of this, your delight is sub-standard. When we read the word delight, what comes to mind? To have fun? To smile? Delight is not simple happiness; it is great pleasure.
Sometimes, we are led to believe that as long as we are serving, delight is reflected in us. The greatest commandment which is to love the Lord our God with all our heart, mind and soul must be the real sign of our extreme happiness in serving. Does our sub-standard belief of serving sound anything close to the standard of loving and serving the psalmist was talking about? How is your attitude? How are your priorities? Are you counting the cost? Or are we like Paul when he said in Philippians 3:8?
2. You delight but with the wrong purpose. Sometimes we serve because we've already signed up and it is what is expected of us. Often times we fear being judged by our peers, most of the times, we feel it as work or obligation. Sometimes, we sign-up because it is what God says in his Bible; that we are to serve one another and it is what "Saved" Christians should do.
When you serve the Lord, whether to preach on the pulpit or to give fliers to everyone who comes in the door, remember this: The Lord doesn't need you to do that, He is not short on manpower. What the Lord wants to see is your obedience. Obedience is a very specific term. It does not mean work, it means putting your heart into something wholeheartedly.
3. Your love to serve is greater than your love for God and His people. I've seen volunteers serving with delight, giving it all they got. But sometimes this in itself becomes a hindrance.
As was narrated by Sir John Ong in his Preaching 101 class which he shared with us, one of the things he learned was "Do not love preaching more than the people that you preach to." Sometimes, we are so full of ourselves that we forget that we are giving glory to God, and not pleasing our egos and the people around us. Stay humble at all times because while the Lord appreciates your efforts, He is also checking your heart.
3 Points to Delight
According to Psalm 37: 4, “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.” Sometimes, back in our minds we doubt if this verse is really true. There are definitely times when we remember the years we have been serving, and yet we have not yet received the delights in our hearts. Have we read the promise correctly? What have we missed?
Here are three points we could look into, in order to realize the delight that is instilled in our hearts even from the day we were born.
First, we should remember that taking delight means our heart finds fulfillment in Him. We should acknowledge God as our joy, as our anchor.
Second, when this happens, our goals, ambitions, purpose in life, priorities and dreams aligns with His.
Third, we will never go unfulfilled.
You will really see, that all you need is Jesus. When you choose to follow Jesus, some people may see you as failure, as a nobody and will even avoid you at all cost. But let me ask you, who are you trying to please anyway? Is it the Lord or is it people?
Knowing the facts above, what adjustments do you need to make in yourself: in your priorities and attitude to improve your delight?
