What Delights YOU? …Hello weekend readers. In this past week I have had 4 devotions that touched on delight, being delighted, etc. My mom always loves to have people over. At 95 she just doesn’t stop and she always says as they leave, “It was such a delight to have you here.” I heard that throughout my growing up…my dad would tell folks at our resort “how delightful” a saying he used a lot.

Merriam-Webster says this about the word delight: “Noun: a high degree of gratification or pleasure, something that gives great pleasure. Verb: to take great pleasure, to give keen enjoyment, to give joy or satisfaction to.” Delight in Biblical words occurs approximately 110 times in Scripture in various forms (delighted, delighting [in], delightful). Contentment, joy, pleasure, happy/happiness and satisfaction are the most popular synonyms for the word ‘delight.’ Some folks think delight is a somewhat archaic word. Well, it does come from the 13th century Latin but it has never lost its “delightful” use as a noun or verb!!

Al and I love dogs! I grew up with them and when we got married we’ve never not had a dog (we also had 2 cats). Our latest pup, Moose—who is a Great Dane/Lab and more a pony than a dog—is something that gives us great delight! There are times we leave him for a short period and when we come home it is romper-room time. He runs in circles, yodels and hoots with delight, and it is very clear that he delights in being with us.

A quote I found in one of my “quote stashes” is from Jim Wilder PhD, a neuroscientist, who studies the effect of emotions on the brain, said, “Joy is being with someone who delights in being with you.” Right now stop a moment and think of that in your life. Who delights in being with you and who do you delight being with? How does this impact your life, your emotions, and yes—even your outlook on life?

OK, you thought about it—did Jesus come to mind? After all, the entire Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, delights in being with us—more than any creature on earth. From the beginning of time to eternity that will NEVER change! Remember—after God finished creating everything he declared it was not just good but VERY good. God delights in creation and that includes you and me—Moose and every creature on this planet (including mosquitoes?!).

One of my favorite Old Testament Scriptures is from Zephaniah 3:17 [NLT] where the prophet is exuberant in telling the people “For the Lord your God is living among you. He is a mighty savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.” 

Don’t you just love that—our Lord delights in us; our Lord rejoices over us and sings songs of joy for us—have you ever stopped a moment to listen to the singing of our gracious Lord?

I think we need to tuck the word “delight” into our memory and let it trickle down to our heart, mind and soul. Then, in those times when we may feel as if no one delights in us, we can remember the words of Zephaniah and believe in them and live our lives with an unwavering sense of joy and utter delight!

However, we can’t just stop there with being delighted.  Delight, joy, pleasure, etc., are contagious, so let’s make sure others know we delight in being with them. Like our big pup Moose, we may not bounce around, yodel or wag our tails, but we can make intentional efforts to let those we love know we delight in being with them. In doing so, our friendships deepen and our lives and their lives are enhanced.

Sometimes it takes a “step of faith” to reach out to others, to let them know how you feel about them, but it’s worth the call, or email, or card, or if they are in close proximity, you can get together and let the delight wash over one another…. and then, maybe if we listen hard enough, we’ll hear the Lord delightfully singing over us—AMEN!