He Wants . . . Our Hearts

WHAT DOES GOD MOST DESIRE from His creation?  From you?  From me?  Isn't this the question we ask ourselves as His children?  How can I please Him . . . serve Him . . . glorify Him?  J. Eldredge has a beautiful perspective on this thought:

"We've been offered many explanations [to this question]. From one religious camp we're told that what God wants is obedience, or sacrifice, or adherence to the right doctrines, or morality. [Other churches] suggest that no, God is after our contentment, our happiness, our self-actualization, or something else along those lines. He is concerned about all these things, of course, but they are not his primary concern.

What he is after is US . . . 

. . . our laughter 

. . . our tears 

. . . our dreams 

. . . our fears 

. . . our heart of hearts."  

                                                                 
Just think for a minute about how interesting it is that Jesus chose to use physical touch as the channel for the healing He gave while He was on earth.  He could have just spoken the word and the healing would have happened immediately, similar to how God carried out creation at the beginning of time. But for the interaction between Himself and broken humanity, God chose an approach that communicates tender kindness and loving concern . . . a kind of intimacy that often exists between good friends and lends comfort and security to the relationship.

He wants . . . not adherence to doctrine, not righteous lives (although if we truly love Him, the natural overflow will be a life of submission and obedience to Him and His Word) and not even our happiness (although lasting joy stems from our relationship with Him being right) . . .

He's after our hearts . . . our friendship.

Are you and I viewing our God as the deeply relational, deeply intimate Being He is?  Do we remember that He's invited us to step into His Throne Room as nothing less than Beloved children?  That He's invited us to share our laughter, tears, dreams, fears, and struggles with Him moment by moment?

Are we honoring His greatest desire?  If we are, we will find our joy in His!

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.  In love he predestined us for adoption to SONSHIP through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his PLEASURE and WILL--to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves" (Ephesians 1:3-6).

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