A FUN Life with God 01/31/2012

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"I wonder if fun is an attribute of God." Pastor Mark Drsicoll commented recently during a conference of well known pastors.

Well I don't know if fun can be labeled as an attribute of God theologically but I do know that God is OK with fun. Actually, I think that God is a big fan of fun!

I find that often people, within and without the Church, believers and nonbelievers, see God as the divine quencher of FUN. We think "He can't be for fun He has all these RULES" (and He does). We ponder how "I need to submit to Christ's Lordship; being a slave of God isn't fun" (and we DO need to see Christ as LORD). But neither of these realities of redemption require a failure to have fun and be fun.

Consider the wise words of the preacher who wrote the Biblical book of Ecclesiastes.
"Young people, enjoy yourselves while you are young; be happy while you are young. Do whatever your heart desires, whatever you want to do. But remember that God will judge you for everything you do." (Ecclesiastes 11:9 NCV).
Essentially the Holy Spirit inspired a verse that says "Have fun! Have as much fun as you can! But remember that God will hold you accountable for your wrongdoings."

God's rules and our fun are not two mutually exclusive things. In fact, I think they complement each other. I am a youth director at a small church. I spend almost all of my time with God and serving God. But I am having the most fun of my life! How is this possible? Knowing that God is pleased with me, His chosen and redeemed son, and choosing to love my God in return fuels my fun. My redeemed state gives me passion. It supplies me with joy. It drives me to love. And passion, joy, and love are FUN.

Four times in Scripture we read that we, God's people, need to "love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might" (Deuteronomy 6:5; Matthew 22:37; Mark 12:30; and Luke 10:27 NASB).
Jesus said that "This is the great and foremost commandment" (Matthew 22:38 NASB). If we love God with all we are we are going to find following His commands easier than ever before.
Love brings joy and fun to obedience. And it frees us to have fun in all else.

I love Yahweh my God for many reasons. Chiefly I love Him because He is MY God and He has chosen me and redeemed me. I also love Him because He is BEAUTIFUL. He is the author of beauty and all beauty I see in life is a mere shadow of His glorious beauty. I take joy and have fun in all things in life knowing that these things show me little glimpses of my Creator.

Brother, sister, nonbeliever, are you having fun in chasing after God? If not, ask Him to change you, in Jesus name.

His blessing be on you!

Joshua Rystedt

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The Everyday Bible : New Century Version (Nashville, TN.: Thomas Nelson, Inc., 2005).

New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update (LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995)._

 

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