PSALM 50:23 – The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me; to one who orders his way rightly I will show the salvation of God!”

THEME OF THE DAY. HOW TO GLORIFY AND ENJOY GOD. I love my church youth group. It is special to gather weekly with a bunch of young people, saved and unsaved, to enter into their lives, have fun, and most importantly, co-labor with adults committed to getting the gospel of the Lord Jesus into their lives. Though I am not a youth, I feel “young at heart” when there and look forward to interacting with those who are literally young at heart and body. That leads to a little story taking us into today’s theme.

A few weeks ago, I had the privilege to preach the message at youth group. As I stood in front of a wide and diverse crowd of 30 or so young people, I saw the creativity and sovereignty of God in bringing such a group together. My message was about our two greatest needs in life; to know the forgiveness of God and the love of God. I preached for about forty minutes. On that note, don’t think for a moment young people won’t listen to or be changed by preaching. They will. Let’s not “buy” into a pragmatism that says we must adapt our ministries to the culture, cater to the felt needs and desires of youth, or reject expositional preaching because they don’t like or won’t engage preaching. They will because it is God’s method of reaching the lost and growing His children. Now my story . . .

After the message, an eighth grader came to me,. He was riveted to the Word preached through the whole sermon. He said, “Thank you, Pastor Jim. I am learning in my family devotions the shorter catechism. We are studying question one. I think it ties into your message.” His statement was so affirming to me, not because of his thankfulness for my preaching, but because of a young man studying and being changed by the Word. By the way, the shorter catechism question he and his family are studying reads, “What is the chief end of man?” And the answer is “to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.” So, let’s take what that young man and his family are studying and ask of ourselves, “How are we doing in glorifying God and enjoying Him?” Today’s scripture helps us do both.

First, a Christian glorifies God by living in the spirit and attitude of thanksgiving – “The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me.” This doesn’t means saying grace over each meal. It means in all circumstances, give thanks (1 Thessalonians 5:18). And this will be tested by the Lord. It isn’t difficult to give thanks when the kids are obeying, our marriages are going well, the job is secure, and life is good. Now what about when the bottom in life falls out? What about when we have a prodigal son or daughter, an unresponsive, insensitive spouse, no job security, and life seems to be one struggle piled on another? To glorify God by giving thanksgiving requires it be exercised in all seasons of life. And that necessitates a grace-filled and grace-controlled life. A lack of consistent thanksgiving to God in our lives is a warning sign of worldliness. Be on guard against it creeping into our lives.

The next part of the shorter catechism question one answer is “to enjoy God.” Are we? I am not asking are we enjoying the benefits from God. Even unsaved people know these things. It is called “common grace” that God gives to believers and unbelievers alike. The question is “Are we literally and spiritually enjoying God?” The latter part of today’s scripture shows us how this is experienced – “to one who orders his way rightly I will show the salvation of God!” There is only one way to “enjoy God” and that is through sincere obedience to His Word. To “order one’s way rightly” is to live out intentional obedience to the Bible. Our happiness and contentment in the Lord comes from working out our salvation walking with the Lord; a walk that is marked by obedience.

Oh, there is one more part of my story with my little eighth grade friend. After he mentioned his family devotions, I asked him, “And how do we glorify and enjoy God?” He smiled and said, “By obeying Him.” Wise words out of the mouth of a babe!

PRAYER: “Father, help me to keep the main thing, the main thing in my life – You.”

QUOTE: “Our salvation is a call of God to glorify Himself and to enjoy Him now and forever”