Saturday, September 02, 2006

The Pleasures of God

I am always fascinated by the genesis of thought. "What made him / her begin to think that way? What was the change that started them down that path? How did he come to that understanding?" So when John Piper writes that the following sentence was the beginning of his thought process that led to the writing of what World Magazine calls one of the 100 greatest books of the last century, my heart perked up.
"The worth and excellency of a soul is to be measured by the object of its love." Henry Scougal, The Life of God in the Soul of Man, 1677.

Later, Piper summarizes Scougal in his own words and style: "The true dimensions of a soul are seen it its delights." (p. 18)

Scougal and Piper are right. God delights in his own glory because he is the purest of beings and can only delight in that which is most delightful. And so my ability / inability to delight in the glory of God is the measure of the dimension of my heart at any particular moment in time. I need to train my heart to delight in the delights of God.

I am so prone to delight in other things without reference to their place in the will and glory of the God who gives every good and perfect gift.

Lord, teach my heart to delight in you. Teach me again to find my greatest joy in being yours and knowing that you have made me yours for your own glory. Show me yourself so I will desire nothing but you. Make me singleminded in all my ways for all my days. Help me to lay aside everything and every ambition that encumbers my passion and pursuit of you. Make me a man who longs for you more than my next breath.

For your glory Lord, for your great name, exalt your self in my heart that I might have you for the greater glory of your name and the joy that you promise in Christ. Amen.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Psalm 37:4 says that when we delight in Him He gives us the desires of our heart. If we pray that the desire of our heart would be Him I imagine He is so totally excited to respond. He patiently waits for us to seek Him so we can find Him (Jermiah 29:13) It all begins with our heart.

May these verses be all of our prayer