Recently I saw a bumper sticker with someone’s philosophy presented. It said, “The purpose of life is to live it.” Well, I can agree to a point with that, but there are multiple choices we make as we live our lives, and some of them can cause us detrimental harm. Some of our choices have the potential to actually devastate the very lives we are striving to experience with pleasure.

So-o-o-o-o…….what good does it do to fulfill “the purpose of life” if in the process, we end up destroying that life?? Use any definition of “destroying” you want to and you’ll get the same question from me. A careless or indiscriminate effort to “live it” is not wise and will most likely result in something other than contentment.

The God I serve (i.e. the God of the Bible) counsels us in a healthful direction…in a right direction: Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart (Psalm 37:4).

If I am to heed this advice, I need to delight in God. Not in just any god, and not in a plurality of gods…but in the LORD God. The word for LORD here refers to the Creator God’s own name for Himself—YHWH, Jehovah, or “I Am that I AM.” This is one of those things that can be verified by anyone who wants to know the truth about the claim. Check it out for yourself!

The original Hebrew word of this Scripture, from which we get the translation “LORD,” was understood by Moses and the people of the covenant given at Mt. Sinai to be God's personal name. The name chosen by God by which He would relate specifically to His covenant people. The Almighty God of the Bible called Himself “I Am that I AM.” There is no other name like it. The name is His alone, and to try delighting myself in another lord won’t work. It will not yield the result stated.

This same principle is at work in the instruction Jesus gave, which is recorded in the New Testament book of Matthew, chapter 6: No one can serve two masters…. You cannot serve both God and Money. Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear…. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well (from verses 24, 25, and 33).

Right about here in the discussion, someone might say, “I don’t believe it. I have always believed in Almighty God, and he hasn’t given me the desires of my heart. In fact, I seem to run into nothing but trouble!”

I have two thoughts to offer in response to such a comment, which I believe shows a misunderstanding of those specific benefits that God and his Son promised. The first thing I want to say is that the psalm does not state or even imply that everything our hearts desire will be granted us if we believe in the LORD. After all, don’t we find New Testament scripture, acknowledging that even the demons believe that—and shudder (James 2:19) Certainly, none or us would dare suggest that God must then give Satan and his crew the desires of their hearts!

No, the promise clearly is given to those who delight themselves in the LORD God. Now, what does it mean to delight oneself in someone else?

Many of us delight ourselves in things all the time. For example, on a hot, sunny day, when it happens that I have the money and an opportunity to relax, with nothing that demands my immediate attention, I can really delight myself in a double-scoop ice cream cone, especially if one of those scoops is coffee flavor, and the other is peanut butter-chocolate chip. (Otherwise, I could just as well delight myself in a combination of cookies-and-cream and mint-chocolate chip.) By the way, I will definitely thank God for allowing me the pleasure of that treat, but in no way will I insist that it is because I believe in God that I am able to indulge in eating it. After all, an atheist can enjoy ice cream, too.

But that aside, the point I want to make is that when we delight in a thing, it is quite different (though there are similarities) from delighting in a person.

If I delight myself in chocolate, I simply enjoy it…a LOT. But when I delight myself in another person—my husband, for instance, I enjoy thinking about his needs, wishes, and requests, which then leads me to behave in ways that I know—or believe—will make him happy.

The same holds true of my delighting myself in Almighty God. I enjoy thinking about him. It makes me happy, I feel a sense of comforting peace, and I am energized as I read from the Bible (Old and New Testament scriptures) to learn more about him. I study his dealings with various individuals and groups of people over the years, meditate on the instructions he has given, and discover which commands and promises apply directly to me, as a genuine follower of Jesus Christ.

Then I make sure my behavior follows suit. I don't just feel pleasure or gladness that comes with believing in God, but I also do what I know delights Him, as a result of my belief. It is a phenomenon, that His desires then become the desires of my own heart. Voila! Problem solved.

I'd love to consider your thoughts on these things, so please, leave a comment. And please come join me here for more thoughts tomorrow!