Delight in the Small Things
Read: Matthew 13:24-35 [A mustard seed] is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree. (v. 32) A young, 19th-century nun in France, Thérèse of Lisieux, once said, “Remember that nothing is small in the eyes of God.” As a hobby gardener, […]
Delight in Weakness
Read: Romans 5:1-11 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance. (v. 3) When Paul talks about rejoicing in suffering, I’m tempted to wonder if he’s forgotten about the perfectionists in the room. Perfectionists like me would rather hide their sufferings and imperfections than shine a spotlight on them. In […]
Creativity Brings Delight
Read: Colossians 3:5-17 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. (v. 16) When I was around four years old, I wrote songs to the hum of the vacuum cleaner. My mom cleaned […]
God Delights in Us
Read: Zephaniah 3:9-20 The LORD your God . . . will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing. (v. 17) Our earliest experiences have a profound effect on how we view ourselves and on how we think God and others see us. We may grow up […]
Creation Sings God’s Praise
Read: Psalm 19:1-14 The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. (v. 1) C. S. Lewis called Psalm 19 “the greatest poem in the Psalter and one of the greatest lyrics in the world,” and I can see why. In only 14 verses, the psalmist captures the miraculous nature of […]
God Delights in Creation
Read: Genesis 1:14-31 And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. (v. 31) My grandma made the best egg noodles. Once, when I made them on my own and they turned out like hers, I could feel the delight well up in me with every bite. Creation and delight go […]
What Is Delight?
Read: Ephesians 3:7-21 That you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth. (vv. 17-18) Sometime between 1490 and 1510, Hieronymus Bosch painted a three-panel work he titled “The Garden of Earthly Delights.” Scholars debate the meaning of this […]
New Clothes and Permanent Ink
Read: Revelation 3:1-6 The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. (v. 5) I don’t really like the word overcomer, the word my preferred translation (AMP) uses for this verse. To me, it suggests behavior I practiced for the first […]
The “Secret”
Read: Philippians 4:10-20 I can do all things through him who strengthens me. (v. 13) There are always people who want to know the secrets of success, and for those peddling the latest and greatest methods, people will jump through hoops of fire to achieve it (and spend a lot of money). There are diet and […]