I love everything. I love photography, writing, drawing, teaching, history, good conversation, dissecting movies and books, coaching the lego team kids, pursuing friends, growing plants, eating right, running, milking the goat...I love it all. Why do I do any of this? Is it because I should? No, I must admit I do it because I love it.
Does doing what we love please God as much as doing what we hate? Or, put another way, is it more pleasing to God for us to do what we enjoy or to do what we do not enjoy? I love teaching. It isn't because I feel like I'm giving something, though I may be. I just love it--love breaking ideas in little bits, love seeing them digested. Love to see others delight in new knowledge and to share in that wonder. Am I giving a gift when I do something for the personal joy of it? If I hated teaching and did it anyway because I thought it was right, is that worth more? My gut says that "God loves a cheerful giver." He is pleased when we walk in the goodness of what He put in us. Yet sometimes he does call us to do things we don't like. But once we step into those things, won't we find the joy of obedience even if we don't find the joy of washing windows? I think the joy of the Lord is in the submitted heart that delights in the fittingness of obeying the Spirit's direction, which places our feet in the footsteps of love.
For a while, I had to go running everyday. My heart compelled me to do so--I loved it. I had a running buddy and our time on the pavement was the highlight of my day. In that time, I felt the sheer joy of God when I was there. I don't think he was up there going, "Whew, she's finally doing something healthy." I have no idea if my little time sweating benefited my health--probably did. But if had been as unhealthy as smoking, I would have done it anyway because I loved it. I felt the pleasure of God in me, the appropriateness of doing something I was made for. I have a body that is tall and strong and fit and has a capacity for speed. It is good. Experiencing the goodness of what God has made is Good.
I am not sure how dying to self fits into this. Perhaps it is not so far away. We were, after all, made to walk in the Spirit. The delight of running the race is in the track where were created to be. Now that I think of it, giving with no holding back is delightful like those other things are.
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2 comments:
Your post are always sooo thought provoking. This one in particular has really got me thinking. I think God wants both from us. He wants us to enjoy some things...that's why he made us the way He did and put beautiful things into the world, I think. But I also think that doing things we don't enjoy is part of His plan...without getting into having HIS joy in any circumstance...doing so causes us to grow in discipline and actually grow in ways it would be impossible to grow if we only did what we liked to do.
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