Packer:We need to emphasize the Christian’s heritage of enjoyment.

The seeds of happiness, it has been truly said, grow most strongly in the soil of service.

Often the “something else” that wins our allegiance is someone else, a person rather than an abstract concept. That is especially the case where spiritual happiness is concerned. This happiness comes from basking in the knowledge of the redeeming love of the Father and the Son and showing active loyal gratitude for it. You love God and find yourself happy. Your active attempts to please God funnel the pleasures of his peace into your heart. That is how it goes. Yet hot tub religion touches on a deep, sweet truth of theology when it highlights the fact that real enjoyment is integral to real godliness.

We need to emphasize the Christian’s heritage of enjoyment. Unbelief makes us fear that God is a hard and unfriendly taskmaster who will begrudge us pleasure and require us to do things that we do not want to do and cannot enjoy. Scripture, however, shows us that the opposite is true. “You will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand” (Ps. 16:11). “You give them drink from your river of delights” (Ps. 36:8). “God, my joy and my delight” (Ps. 43:4). “I will be glad and rejoice in you” (Ps. 9:2). “The kingdom of God is … righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Rom. 14:17). “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him” (Rom. 15:13).

Packer, J. I. (2001). God’s Plans for You (p. 50). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.

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