A Question for You...

At our New Year’s Eve gathering at church, a list of thought-provoking questions was handed out. The queries related to one’s spiritual life, church body life, and family life. Each gave opportunity for one to pause and reflect on various important considerations especially timely for the beginning of a new year. I’d like to discuss a few of them here, spread over several weeks, and interspersed with other posting topics.
Will you join me?

Q 1: What’s one thing you could do this year to increase your enjoyment of God?

I immediately was drawn to this question because it emphasized one’s enjoyment of God. Most of us, I’d suggest, think of our relationship with and to God in the context of worship, duty, learning, or obedience. This question, instead, focuses more on the heart and one’s affection, namely our enjoyment of Him.
How much do you enjoy your God?
The reason this is relevant, pertinent and even worth considering is because it gets, I believe, to the core of one’s affection to reveal what (or who) one really loves.
For what we enjoy reveals the object of our deepest love.

I do love God; I do enjoy Him.
But, I long to love and enjoy Him so much more.
I know I fall short; indeed, the premise of the question assumes we need to grow in this area.
So, how can I actively, tangibly, with resolution and determination, do this?

Hmm…
aSpend time sharing my heart and listening to His.
I’ve decided to schedule some Monday morning coffee stops (while it is winter) and some early morning park or lake bench stops (when it warms up) to just bask in communion with God. Perhaps in meditation of a specific chapter of Scripture & then journaling my response; perhaps in walking through the fresh, crisp cold air of morning and speaking (inside) my heart to God of his amazing acts or praiseworthy attributes. Or sometime, sitting at my own kitchen table (the rest of the family all off to school or work) and singing my heart away of the goodness, faithfulness and even holiness of God. I find my anticipation already rising as I type these words.
aDiscover a ‘new’ way to become more acquainted with ‘old’ truth.
Maybe I’ll seek out an internet site that plays edifying broadcasts of a trusted teacher or preacher. Maybe I’ll attend a conference or concert that will draw my attention and affection to God and His works. Maybe I’ll make a weekly ‘date’ with a friend to specifically walk and talk about God, or about a specific facet of God’s work in our lives. “Tell me…tell me…tell me….of God’s work, His hand, His goodness, of Him.”
aFast.
If I rob myself of a lesser pleasure to help my heart see and know the greater glory of my true Pleasure, won’t that increase my enjoyment? It won’t make me holier, cause God to love me more, or make me more spiritual, I know. But if I want to increase my enjoyment of God and decrease my enjoyment of food, will communing with Him instead of imbibing in it steer my affections?
aSpend time with others who are crazy about Him.
Their enthusiasm is sure to rub off, and they are certain to share the affection and enjoyment they possess. Their focus will help point me to the true Source of pleasure, and enjoyment shared by two is not halved, but multiplied. I'd relish the chance to observe and discuss how another enjoys God. (Call or email me to schedule an "Enjoy God" time, will you? I'd be delighted!)
aLastly, I can try to cut out (or at least diminish) lesser enjoyments.
It makes sense, doesn’t it, that the appetites I feed will be the appetites that increase? So....if I spend lots of time at the computer, TV, fireplace with a book, out with friends ...and little time with God, whom will I be 'teaching' my heart to love? If I want to cultivate an appetite for filet mignon, I dare not make my daily diet a Whopper and fries. (And this takes discipline...'cause what I naturally default to is often not my first love!)

What ways might you suggest one could increase her enjoyment of God?

I'd love to hear your ideas!
(And don't be surprised if one day in conversation I might just ask you, "How do you enjoy God?")