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FROM DUTY TO DELIGHT

“If you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile,” 1 Peter 1:17 ESV. A sense of Christian duty drives much of what I do, so each day, I dutifully recommit myself to do the right things. This seems fine on the surface, but as a child of God, there is a more noble way. God seeks those who delight to do His will, even if they do it imperfectly. In Psalm 40:8, David prays, “I delight to do Your will,” yet later confessed, “I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.” Still, God said of David, “I have found David, the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfill all my will.” The LORD’s eyes move over the earth, searching for those who with grateful, love-filled hearts are turned toward Him, not only as a sense of duty but out of delight in pleasing Him. Father, I desire to permanently join the ranks of those who move from duty to delight. 

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