Over the summer, I invited the girls in our youth group to participate in a weekly Bible study. We went through Better Than Life by Caroline Saunders, which I highly recommend. Although the intended audience for the study is girls, I greatly benefited from it as an adult. One of the things Caroline mentioned is the idea that structure increases delight.
In one of the early sessions of the study, she used the example of wanting to enjoy a meal and then attempting to prepare it without a recipe. It didn’t go well. Her point was that many things, especially Bible study, are enjoyable with some semblance of structure involved. She then gave a recipe for Bible study and explained how using the recipe helps increase our delight in God’s word.
This made me consider the relationship between discipline and delight. These concepts often appear to be mutually exclusive. Tasks that require discipline are typically deemed drudgery. I’ve observed, however, that discipline contributes to delight flourishing especially when it comes to knowing God through His word. As I’ve endeavored to read the Bible chronologically by the year’s end, I’ve found it difficult to plod through passages that are far removed from my present context. When I’ve employed the discipline of digging through the layers of time, location, and culture, I’ve received a grander view of God.
At times, reading God’s word has been a pure delight, and other times I’ve read solely out of discipline. A recent conversation made me realize that the two aren’t at odds with each other. Maintaining discipline has increased my delight. God’s word is a treasure trove full of riches that cannot be exhausted. In rereading passages I read years ago, I realized I’m quick to forget. Reading some passages anew, I see majestic facets of this treasure formerly unnoticed. In this, I realized that discipline causes delight.
It has required discipline to read through parts of the Old Testament that are far removed from modernity. However, reading chronologically has provided me with a fuller context of what was occurring when certain Psalms were written. Psalm 103, I recently learned, was penned after Satan incited David to take a census. This was a wicked act on David’s part and Psalm 103 was his heart’s response. Psalm 103 has been one of my favorite Psalms for years and being disciplined to read through the events that led to its formation in 1 Chronicles 21 led to my increased delight in it.
Delight is discipline’s reward especially when it comes to knowing God through His word. I’ve yet to experience anything but delight as He helps me remain disciplined in knowing Him. Author and Bible teacher Jen Wilkin wonderfully wrote, “The heart cannot love what the mind does not know.”[1] To know God is to love Him and we can’t know Him apart from His word. The prophet Jeremiah’s response to consuming God’s word was, “Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O LORD, God of hosts,” (Jeremiah 15:16).
We have no good apart from Him (Psalm 16:2) and apart from Him, we can do nothing (John 15:6). May this compel us to ask Him for the strength to be disciplined so that our delight and love of Him may increase and abound. The motive of God’s discipline is love (Hebrews 12:6) may we aim to make it the motive of our discipline too.
[1] This quote is from Jen’s book, Women of the Word, which I highly recommend.
