My Dear Grandchildren,
Recently, your mother sent me some topics that she thought would be good for me to write about to you. Here’s is one that stood out to me. What does it mean to enjoy God? One reason that it stood out is that recently someone else also asked me about that. So, I’ve been thinking about it already.
Recently, your mother sent me some topics that she thought would be good for me to write about to you. Here’s is one that stood out to me. What does it mean to enjoy God? One reason that it stood out is that recently someone else also asked me about that. So, I’ve been thinking about it already.
Let’s start with this. What does it mean to enjoy another person? That might be someone in the family or maybe someone you know from elsewhere. (I hope that I have made it onto your list of people you enjoy.) What does it mean that you enjoy that person? Well, I suppose that there are things that this person does that you enjoy. He - (Back in the old days when I was growing up, ‘he’ could be used to refer to people in general whether men or women. That’s how I use it. I know, old-fashioned!) - he might be a really good listener. Or he might, in some way, be really helpful to you. Or he may be interested in some of the same things that you are so that you can talk about those things together or even do them together.
I think that I can say that we enjoy other people because of who they are and what they do.
Now, take all of that, and apply it to God. (It makes sense to do that because He is a person too.) We can enjoy Him because of who He is and what He does.
I’ll explain that by talking about ways that I enjoy God. I enjoy God because He cares about me. It’s not just that He does stuff to help me. He cares about all the different things that are going on in my life. That’s what I mean that He cares about me. Another way of saying this is that He is so very for me. That actually is a very big deal for me.
He also has made promises to me. And what is so striking is that He has always kept them.
In a world filled with variables, life going up and down and sideways at times, He is my constant. Everything else can change, but He stays the same. So, I can always count on Him.
And He is always with me. (Immanuel!) So, as I walk through life, He is right there to guide me, protect me and correct me.
Then, there are all the good gifts that He gives me. I think that I can say that I can write fairly well. And the reason for that? It’s something God has given to me. I have enjoyed taking pictures. Most of what I like to photograph are landscapes. When I do that, I’m taking pictures of something beautiful that God has made. Another gift.
Add to this the different ways that He has changed me. While I still have plenty of sins to deal with, there are some that no longer plague me. God has changed me so that they no longer affect me. And seeing how He is changing me is something that I enjoy.
Bear in mind that I haven’t even mentioned ‘religious’ things that God does, forgiveness and such.
There is more that I could add to this list, different way that I enjoy God. And I am quite sure that, if you think about it, each of you could create a list of ways in which you are enjoying God.
Now, here’s an interesting result of all of this. As I learn to enjoy Him more - and all that that means is believing what the Bible says about who He is and what He does - I am also glorifying Him more. I am responding to more of who He is. And that highlights different aspects of what makes Him the beautiful person that He is - all of which, to use a church word, is His glory. By enjoying God in different ways, I am highlighting different aspects of His glory. So, enjoying God results in glorifying Him. And that’s what the Shorter Catechism was getting at when it wrote (with a slight tweak by John Piper):
Man’s chief end is to glorify God by enjoying Him forever.
I hope that this will help you to get to know our God better as the person that He is so that you will enjoy Him more and more, and in that way glorify Him more and more and more.
With my love,
I think that I can say that we enjoy other people because of who they are and what they do.
Now, take all of that, and apply it to God. (It makes sense to do that because He is a person too.) We can enjoy Him because of who He is and what He does.
I’ll explain that by talking about ways that I enjoy God. I enjoy God because He cares about me. It’s not just that He does stuff to help me. He cares about all the different things that are going on in my life. That’s what I mean that He cares about me. Another way of saying this is that He is so very for me. That actually is a very big deal for me.
He also has made promises to me. And what is so striking is that He has always kept them.
In a world filled with variables, life going up and down and sideways at times, He is my constant. Everything else can change, but He stays the same. So, I can always count on Him.
And He is always with me. (Immanuel!) So, as I walk through life, He is right there to guide me, protect me and correct me.
Then, there are all the good gifts that He gives me. I think that I can say that I can write fairly well. And the reason for that? It’s something God has given to me. I have enjoyed taking pictures. Most of what I like to photograph are landscapes. When I do that, I’m taking pictures of something beautiful that God has made. Another gift.
Add to this the different ways that He has changed me. While I still have plenty of sins to deal with, there are some that no longer plague me. God has changed me so that they no longer affect me. And seeing how He is changing me is something that I enjoy.
Bear in mind that I haven’t even mentioned ‘religious’ things that God does, forgiveness and such.
There is more that I could add to this list, different way that I enjoy God. And I am quite sure that, if you think about it, each of you could create a list of ways in which you are enjoying God.
Now, here’s an interesting result of all of this. As I learn to enjoy Him more - and all that that means is believing what the Bible says about who He is and what He does - I am also glorifying Him more. I am responding to more of who He is. And that highlights different aspects of what makes Him the beautiful person that He is - all of which, to use a church word, is His glory. By enjoying God in different ways, I am highlighting different aspects of His glory. So, enjoying God results in glorifying Him. And that’s what the Shorter Catechism was getting at when it wrote (with a slight tweak by John Piper):
Man’s chief end is to glorify God by enjoying Him forever.
I hope that this will help you to get to know our God better as the person that He is so that you will enjoy Him more and more, and in that way glorify Him more and more and more.
With my love,
Grandpa B
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