Not long ago, I walked into the kitchen and found my eight-year-old daughter emptying the dishwasher. She was not being punished. Neither my wife nor I had promised her any payment. No one asked her to do this. But there she was, putting away plates and cups and silverware — with a smile on her face!
A bit surprised, I told her, “Wow, thanks for doing that, hon.” To which she replied, “Sure, Dad, glad to help!”
It was a moment that would make any parent proud. It also provides a little picture of a glorious reality that lies at the core of the Christian life: As believers in Christ, we happily engage in God-honoring actions because our hearts contain God-honoring affections. Serving him makes us glad.
Life Beyond Lists
Some people have the impression that the Christian life consists in suppressing desires. They think following Jesus essentially amounts to self-inflicted misery in this life, with joy deferred until the life to come. But this isn’t true. It is vain to honor God with our lips while our hearts remain far from him (Isaiah 29:13). Christianity is more than a list of duties to obey; it is a life of delight to enjoy (Psalm 119:47).
Scottish minister Henry Scougal writes,
[Christianity] may be defined by the word life because it is an inward, free, and self-moving principle. Those who make progress in it are not motivated by external forces . . . but are powerfully inclined to that which is good, and they delight in its performance. (The Life of God in the Soul of Man, 32)
The question is: Where does this inward principle come from? How can this powerful inclination to that which is good manifest itself in my life? And what will cause me to increasingly delight in obedience?
The answer: union with Christ.
Union with Christ refers to the believer’s new position in Christ established at conversion, experienced in all of life, and enjoyed forever. When God saves us, he unites us to his Son. This union changes our fundamental position in life. We who were once dead in sin are made alive with Christ (Ephesians 2:1–5). We experience this new life in Christ through a whole host of new desires.
New Nature, New Desires
Every spiritual blessing comes to us in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 1:3), including the spiritual blessing of God-honoring desires. Scougal writes, “The love that someone bears toward God and toward goodness comes . . . by a new nature instructing them and prompting them in that direction” (32).
We don’t come into this world hardwired for joyful obedience to God. We were born in rebellion. But in Christ, we are born again. And this new birth comes with a new heart filled with the Spirit of God, who fuels our desire to obey (Ezekiel 36:26–27). In other words, we are born again in Christ to live like Christ. And “the life [Jesus] lives he lives to God” (Romans 6:10). Jesus lives to the glory of his Father — and loves to do so.
At one point in his ministry, when Jesus’s disciples encouraged him to eat after a tiresome journey, he replied, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me” (John 4:34). Why didn’t he say, “My purpose is to do the will of him who sent me”? Or “My duty is to do the will of him who sent me”? Why “my food”? He didn’t mean that he had no need to eat. He was truly human, which included having earthly needs for food and rest. Rather, he used the analogy of food to demonstrate to his disciples the satisfaction he found in obeying his Father. Obedience was his purpose but also his passion. It was his duty but also his delight.
Jesus has a healthy appetite for honoring the Father. And since we are united with him, the same hunger and the same delight exist in us. Yes, our spiritual palates need refining. Sometimes God’s instructions seem more like cough syrup than honey. But the more we cultivate the good desires God has put within our hearts, the more we will discover the sweetness of his commands (Psalm 119:103).
Cultivating Delight
How can we cultivate these Christlike desires, increasing our delight in obedience and decreasing the allure of temptation?
First, cultivate delight in obedience by feasting upon the goodness of God. Notice, Jesus says, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me.” This is not allegiance to an abstract moral code. This is fellowship with a person. The Son loves the Father and delights to do his will.
The more we taste and see that the Lord is good, the more we will long to live in a way that honors him as well. John Owen writes, “He that is satisfied with the kindness of God, as with marrow and fatness — that is, every day entertained at the banquet of wine, wine upon the lees, and well refined [Isaiah 25:6] — has a holy contempt of the baits and allurements that lie in prevailing temptations, and is safe” (Overcoming Sin and Temptation, 215).
Do you want to diminish temptation’s power? Do you want to cultivate a desire to obey? Feast upon the goodness of God. Open the Scriptures to meditate upon the truth, beauty, and wisdom of his word. Worship each Lord’s Day with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Explore and enjoy the wonders of creation, which speak of his awesome power and gracious love.
Second, cultivate delight in obedience by walking in obedience. We sometimes think we should wait to obey until we want to obey. After all, people may look on the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart (1 Samuel 16:7). So, if my heart’s not in it, should I even bother?
Yes, because obedience, even embattled obedience, is always better than disobedience. And as we walk in obedience, we will increasingly discover the blessings of obedience. True, we should beware of pretending that our heart is warm when it’s not. But if we acknowledge our lack of desire, pray for the gift of delight, and obey anyway, we have good reason to hope God will meet us in our obedience.
Think about it: How did the psalmist come to discover the blessing of walking in the law of the Lord (Psalm 119:1)? By walking in the law of the Lord! He obeyed, and the more he did, the more he delighted in God’s testimonies (Psalm 119:14).
Has this not been your experience? Think of a time you were tempted, but by God’s grace and in his strength, you obeyed. Did you regret it? Of course not. Shame and regret are found on the other side of sin. Gratitude and joy are found on the other side of obedience. This is why J.C. Ryle says that the pursuit of holiness “is the only way to be really happy” (Holiness, 38). And in union with Christ, we too can find that it is our food to do the will of the Father.
So, fight sin by fostering delight — delight in God himself and in all his ways.
Desiring God