The Duty of Joy—2

God has given us hearts that are capable of enjoying Him.  He has given us sufficient knowledge of Himself in the Bible to make Him the object of our highest delight.  The Lord has united the labor of a Christian in seeking Him with delight, so that believers obeying God’s commandments becomes the believer’s greatest joy.  Richard Baxter, one of the most eminent Puritan authors, wrote: “Delight in God is the health of your souls.”  John Howe wrote that Christians should greatly admire the wisdom of God in making a connection between the duties of the righteous and their happiness; that He has given us laws in the keeping of which there is great reward.  Joy is so fundamentally important as an evidence of godliness that the Christian who does not consistently manifest happiness is in a dangerous condition.  Baxter held that people dishonor God if they do not consider Him the most worthy object of their delight.  He further affirmed that, “The want (lack) of delight in God and holiness is the way to apostasy itself.  Few men will hold on in a way that they have no delight in.”  He warned that if we do not “taste that the Lord is good,” our hearts will easily be drawn away to forbidden pleasures.