Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Do We Visualize God With A Smile Or A Frown?

Ecclesiastes 8:15  And I commend joy, for man has nothing better under the sun but to eat and drink and be joyful, for this will go with him in his toil through the days of his life that God has given him under the sun.

Someone recently wrote that “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him.”

After reading that statement, I had to read it again. I think sometimes we fail to appreciate what God has done for us in providing us so much joy. James reminds us that “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change” (James 1:17). In other words, if it is good, then it has come from God. I would advise that just because people may classify something as good doesn’t necessarily make it good — consider Isaiah 5:20 as an example where people get things turned around by calling bad things good and good things bad.


Maybe we only see God as a taskmaster commanding us nothing but to fear him and literally shake in our boots. But the word he provided to us suggests a proper balance (Romans 11:22). Yes, he is God and there is no other (Isaiah 46:9; Romans 8:12-17; 1John 4:17-19), but he is loving and desires that all be saved from deserved wrath (Romans 2:3-11; 1Timothy 2:1-4; 2Peter 3:9).

Sometimes we don't associate happiness with God; again, we may only see him as a taskmaster handing out impossible commands. 

One test for ourselves might be this — Do we visualize God with a smile or a frown?

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