The Spiritual Shift: Day #19 Entertainment

                     Day #19 Entertainment

                                        Our "Free" Time [Our "Me" Time]

"Take delight in the LORD,
                and he will give you the desires of your heart." ~Psalm 37:4

Be careful with the above verse. There is far more to its meaning than what comes with the first reading.

On the surface we might interpret a simple equation; one that is primarily about us.

If or when we delight in the Lord, we will get the desires of our hearts. Just to be ready, we may start compiling a list of our three wishes, planning to delight in the Lord after our list is complete.

However, the verse is a little more complicated than that--and far more beautiful.

Step 1: Delight in the Lord.

What does that even mean? Delight in the Lord? Delight?

When we delight in a meal, we enjoy it thoroughly. The food, the service, and the company far exceeded our standards. (i.e. I don't believe I have ever delighted in a fast food, drive-thru meal, but it did satisfy my hunger.)

When we delight in an accomplishment, we are proud of the hard work and dedication of the time commitment and quality of the product. (i.e. As parents, we would delight in watching our children compete or perform as they were growing up. I also currently delight in the room that we have turned into a library complete with a wall-size mural that encompasses moments and locations from our lives.)

Finally, when we delight in people, they bring us joy and peace and contentment and laughter. They bring the sparkle of delight to our eyes and a radiant smile to our faces. We feel an almost sacred settling to our souls when in their company. (i.e. We delight in having one or more of our adult children come home and fill us in on their happenings. It is easy to delight when spending time with young children. Children just have a way of bringing out delight.)

So, when the Word says to delight in the Lord, God is asking us to know Him, to spend time with Him, to communicate with Him.

Let's do just that.

Our routine:

Assessment: What is the current condition of our relationship with entertainment or our leisure time?

• What is the purpose of this relationship?

• What is the state of this relationship? What is going well? What isn’t?

• What changes need to be made to this relationship?

Adjustment: What do we fill our leisure time with? What do we find delight in?

Psalm 47:6-8

"Sing praises to God, sing praises;
sing praises to our King, sing praises.
For God is the King of all the earth;
sing to him a psalm of praise.
God reigns over the nations;
God is seated on his holy throne."

Psalm 92:1-5

"It is good to praise the LORD
and make music to your name, O Most High,
proclaiming your love in the morning
and your faithfulness at night,
to the music of the ten-stringed lyre
and the melody of the harp.
For you make me glad by your deeds, LORD;
I sing for joy at what your hands have done.
How great are your works, LORD,
how profound your thoughts!"

Psalm 81:2

"Begin the music, strike the timbrel,
play the melodious harp and lyre."

We delight in the Lord, and simultaneously delight the Lord when we praise Him. Almighty God wants us to know Him; after all, He already knows everything about us.

Like a child proudly handing over a flimsy, long-stemmed dandelion, we delight Almighty God when we wake up and say, "Thank You, Lord, for giving me breath for another day."

We also delight in the Lord by remembering, acknowledging, and sharing His miraculous acts in our lives. All those times when we know that God has worked mightily in our lives are not supposed to be kept a secret.

Currently we may be spending far more of our "free" time delighting in what the world has to offer. Delighting in the Lord will probably require us to change some of our habits. Let's make a better choice with our free time and "sing a new song."

Psalm 96:1-7

"Sing to the LORD a new song;
sing to the LORD, all the earth.
Sing to the LORD, praise his name;
proclaim his salvation day after day.
Declare his glory among the nations,
his marvelous deeds among all peoples.

For great is the LORD and most worthy of praise;
he is to be feared above all gods.
For all the gods of the nations are idols,
but the LORD made the heavens.
Splendor and majesty are before him;
strength and glory are in his sanctuary.
Ascribe to the LORD, all you families of nations,
ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.

Other ways to delight in the Lord are shared in God's Word.

I Thessalonians 5:16-24

"Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
Do not quench the Spirit. Do not treat prophecies with contempt but test them all; hold on to what is good, reject every kind of evil.
May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it."

I Chronicles 16:8-12

"Give praise to the LORD, proclaim his name;
make known among the nations what he has done.
Sing to him, sing praise to him;
tell of all his wonderful acts.
Glory in his holy name;
let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice.
Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always.
Remember the wonders he has done,
his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced."

So, we aren't actually discussing all of those things that we call entertainment. The question to ask ourselves about each--or all--of our entertainment choices stems from a story that was shared at a small group gathering. These parents were marveling at a recent conversation between their teenage son and his friend. It went something like this:

"Hey, do you want to go see this movie? It is supposed to be amazing."
"Dude, that's two hours of your life that you aren't getting back. Are you sure you want to go? Are you sure it's worth it?"

What discernment and wisdom the friend shared! It is the same discernment and wisdom that we need to seek from the Holy Spirit in order to lead a life pleasing to God.

Colossians 3:1-2

"Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things."

Jesus asks us to follow Him; He probably would rather not wait until we finish binge watching all five seasons of our favorite show.

                                                "Take delight in the LORD,
                        and he will give you the desires of your heart." ~Psalm 37:4

Oh, yes, we can't forget about Step Two, can we? Remember, this is the truly beautiful part of this precious promise from the Almighty God.

Step 2: God will give us the desires of our heart.

The mighty, miraculous part is that this is a continuous cycle: When we delight in the Lord, He shapes our desires. Our desires (what we want most of all) will be in sync with what God desires for us because our desire will be to delight in the Lord.

Prayer: 

Almighty God, forgive us for so selfishly fighting for "me time" and forgetting to take time to truly delight in You. Teach us to "sing a new song" by thanking You, by praising You, by delighting in You. We desire to know You and to serve You, Yahweh. In Jesus' Name. Amen. 

“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." ~Matthew 6:21