21
Delight
Jon Burgess“When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”
Luke 3:21-22
Every time I read this passage of the Baptism of Jesus I feel wrapped in the arms of my Heavenly Father. The Greek wording for "well pleased" describes a love that is consistent and ongoing. A love not based on past performance or dependent upon future performance but perpetual delight from the Father in His Son. The public and powerful approval of the Father to Jesus before Jesus had done a single miracle was both for Him and for us! No water had been turned to wine, no sight was restored to the blind, no demons cast into the night...yet. No, it was this precious moment between The Son and His Father that would take Jesus through the torture of the crucifixion. The Father was so proud of Him. The love between The Father and The Son caused the worst torture of all for Jesus in that, because of our sin, the Father could not be near Him! It's this love brought Jesus through the resurrection. It's this love that models for us the only way to live the Christian life. The Father delights in His Son and the Son delights in His Father. Do we experience this level of delight with our Lord or are we driven by other motivations?
Before we ever do something FOR God we need to simply be WITH God. The truth of this needs to sink deep into the very marrow of our bones for it runs contrary to our performance based culture. We cannot earn that which has been freely given and we cannot receive that which we are still trying to earn. It was just last week that I was embroiled in frustration and anger at various situations and expectations in my life that I felt I just could not measure up to. I saw myself taking my frustrations out on my family so I went for a long walk doing my best to pour out the heavy things on my heart. In that moment a light misty rain began to quietly caress my face. It almost stopped me in my tracks as The Father reminded me of the beautiful promise of Zephaniah 3:17: "For the Lord your God is living among you. He is a mighty savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs." He was saying to me what He had said to His Son Jesus: "I delight in you. Not because of what you've done or what you'll do but simply because you belong to me and I belong to you." When my focus moved from "doing" to "delighting" I began to delight again in what I was doing. Ministry was no longer flowing from "proving my worth", but rather "approved and worthy" through The Fathers love. Then when I returned home, because delight begets delight, I began to delight in my family again. My sons were no longer distractions or detractions from my duties, instead they were the very reasons for my being here. As I received the Fathers delight in me I showed a fathers delight to my sons. True ministry flows from being ministered to.
Thank You Father for loving me. I have so much to do this week, but I'm going to bask in what You have already done. I have so many to lead this week, but I'm going to bask in Your unconditional love. I delight in You right here, right now and will moved forward in the knowledge that You delight in me as well! What a beautiful place to be!
