Devotional

“The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song.” —Psalm 28:7 

“God’s Law.” Sounds kind of hard, yes? You can almost hear the thunder rumbling from the mountain … 

 Many think of God’s Law as hard, mean, cold, narrow, difficult. The unsurprising by-product of such a view, then, is that God’s people are to be dark, glum, cool, somber. 

 But let’s not get stuck in that perception. God’s design for our lives actually produces safety, so it should produce joy — delight — laughter — fun! 

 In fact, the thing that makes you strong — the thing that will set you apart, make people look at you and ask, “What is it about that person that makes me want what they have?” — is joy.  

 It’s the fruit of the Spirit! Not your dutiful obedience to a long list of do’s and don’ts. But the sheer delight — the exhilaration — of living in the fullness of God’s original design for your life! “I have come that they may have life,” Jesus declared in John 10:10, “and have it to the full.” 

 That’s the spirit that needs to pervade our everyday lives.  

 My prayer this week: God, I enjoy you. Or at least I realize that I should. But would you, today and every day, help me enjoy you more? Would you help me trust you enough to cut loose and have some fun in the midst of your plan for me? Thank you, Father … Amen.