Why is enjoying God central to the Christian life and bringing glory to God?

Jeffrey D. Johnson explains in this video that if we cannot truly enjoy Godhow can we fully glorify Him? We are not created to be mere obedient beings, devoid of emotions and affections. God desired someone who would not only carry out His business but also love Him. The enjoyment of God is rooted in love, just as we love our children and our loved ones.

We find delight in their activities, take joy in being with them, and cherish them. Likewise, the essence of the Christian life lies in delighting in Christ, cherishing God, spending time with Him, and not merely obeying Him to accomplish tasks.  

Loving God, enjoying Him, delighting in Him, and finding satisfaction in who He is are at the core of Christianity. If we miss these heart-driven aspects and the emotions that Christianity is meant to bring, we miss the true essence of our faith.

Psalm 37:4 (NKJV): "Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart."



Why does enjoying God is central to the Christian life, to bringing glory to God? Well, it's because we really can't glorify God if we do not enjoy Him. We're made not just for mere obedience. We're not drones. We're not robots.

God needed someone to carry out His business. God loves us, and we're called to love Him. That's what the enjoyment of God is, is love. I love my children. I love my wife.

Sometimes I'll sit and watch my kids play baseball. I'll watch them do things. I sit back and enjoy watching them because I take delight in their activity. I take delight in looking at them. I take delight in talking to them.

I cherish them. And in the end, the Christian life is delighting in Christ. It's cherishing God It's spending time with him. It's not just obeying him to get something done It's the goal is to get to heaven where we can rest and relax it in the presence of the living God. We can worship Him and take time just to focus and meditate upon Him.

I remember being young and getting my first vehicle. I was just so excited about it. I'd look at the tires and I'd look at the...I just liked it. I liked the way it looked. I was excited about it.

And I would sit there. I remember going inside and couldn't believe I had my first vehicle and getting up in the middle of the night. I had to go out and look at it again. Well, all that we would have, all that we would have, that same heart for God, where we can't stop looking at Him. We can't stop thinking about Him.

We just go, wait, let me think about His humility again. Let me think about His power. Let me think about His majesty. Let me think about how kind He is and how good He is and how merciful He is. Let me ponder these things afresh and just set back and just be at awe and taken back with these things.

I think that's the heart of Christianity is loving God and enjoying him and delighting in him and being satisfied in who he is. We're missing the essence of Christianity if we're missing the heart of Christianity and the emotions that Christianity is meant to bring to us.