I was filled with delight day after day, rejoicing always in his presence, rejoicing in his whole world and delighting in mankind (Proverbs 8:30-31).

If we are to experience Sabbath's potential, we need to consider the practice of delight. The connection between delight and the Sabbath is easily seen. In expressing delight, we show our joy and great pleasure in the gifts of God. It is to relish the goodness and beauty of God's work and see to the remnants of the divine image in each other. We recognize and appreciate that we are all gifts to each other. Therefore, we welcome each person.

Yet, this delight takes effort. It requires personal preparation in which we halt the controlling, self-serving impulses that reduce others to servants. We no longer see people as means to our own goals but learn to pay genuine attention to them for their own sake. We have the same attitude towards the rest of God's creation. Everywhere we see the freshness of God's grace.

To this end, we must imitate God. Throughout his creative work, he took immense pleasure in what he was making. He took pleasure in creation itself, in its freedom and integrity. God beheld the world, all that was within it, but also its great potential, and proclaimed it "very good"! It was divine exuberance that built and flowed into the works of creation. It was a work of love. His declaration of 'very good", is filled with joy and delight.

This delight comes to the fore in Proverbs 8. The Wisdom of God, personified as feminine, speaks of the freshness and beauty of all that was made.

I was there when he set the heavens in place, when he marked out the horizon on the face of the deep, when he established the clouds above and fixed securely the fountains of the deep, when he gave the sea its boundary so the waters would not overstep his command, and when he marked out the foundations of the earth. Then I was constantly at his side. I was filled with delight day after day, rejoicing always in his presence, rejoicing in his whole world and delighting in mankind (8:27–31).

Enthusiasm and excitement are being communicated back and forth between God and Wisdom as God brings each aspect of creation into being. They are like beaming parents unable to contain their delight when contemplating the potential of new life. They delight in seeing their children thriving and doing well. In the face of such wonder and splendor, the automatic response is pure joy. Scripture advises us to heed God's Wisdom, so that we too might share in this fundamental experience of delight.

Despite Israel's disloyalty and shame, despite our worst efforts to mar and disfigure what God has created, God is faithful to his promise to love and care for his people and his creation. The suffering God undertook through Jesus' incarnation was endurable because of the joy to come (Hebrews 12:2) in the restoration of all things.

Let's keep our eyes open. Let us see the gifts of God's grace. Let us delight in Sabbath joy.

As you journey on, receive Jesus' invitation into this rest:

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls (Matthew 11:28-29).