When Christ scans the peoples of the earth, his eyes light up with delight when they rest upon certain people.

Is it the movie stars, or the athletes, or the kings and queens of the earth that thrill Christ’s heart? Is it the successful, the glamorous, the brilliant? John Owen, who definitely would not have made the cover of People Magazine, gives us a clue:

“There is not the meanest (lowliest), the weakest, the poorest believer on earth that Christ does not value more highly than all the world besides” (Communion with God).

The homeliest Christian living in obscurity and poverty is more delightful to Jesus than all the stars of Hollywood or heaven. A toothless, crippled, Christian in a hovel in Sri Lanka is more appealing to Christ than a non-Christian king in a palace. My friend who called upon the Savior last year who now lies on his bed ravaged by cancer, with sunken eyes and cheeks and legs swollen from the tumor in his back is more beautiful to Jesus than a thousand sunsets. More than all the beauty in the world.

Why are believers, even the lowliest, so attractive to Christ? Not because we’re good enough, smart enough, and doggone it God likes us. No, there is nothing in us who are sinful to appeal to God. We who have called on Christ are lovely to him because God has chosen us and given us to Jesus, and Christ has purchased us with his own life. The Father has made us the apple of his eye and his treasured possession because he’s washed us with the blood of Christ, joined us to Christ, clothed us with the righteousness of Christ, and is transforming us into the image of Christ.

We are delightful to Christ because we’re his bride. Even the most stunning seraphim in heaven aren’t clothed in the radiance of Christ the way the poorest believer is.

C.S. Lewis says "It is a serious thing, to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare.” – Weight of Glory

Someday believers will be like Christ, for we shall see him as he is (1 JN 3:2). Our new heavenly bodies will be as different from these bodies as a tree is from a seed (1 CO 15:35ff). We simply can’t imagine the beauty of our heavenly bodies. Imagine if you had never seen a tree in your life and I showed you an acorn and said that someday this tiny seed would be majestic, spreading out, and full of thousands of green leaves. You couldn’t imagine it. Paul compares these earthly bodies to seeds that will someday be more glorious than we can imagine.

We’ll look at each other “when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed” (2 TH 1:10), and we’ll see the glory of Christ shining through each other.

So take a second look at your fellow-believer. Even if he or she appears to you to be the dullest and most uninteresting person in the world, remember Christ values them more than all the world. And even if you consider yourself to be insignificant, remember, you are his treasured possession, the apple of his eye.

One night a few months ago I expressed to my wife Kristi that I was feeling overwhelmed. At that time she asked me an incisive question: "What are you believing about God right now?" This is a brilliant question to ask any time you are feeling disquieted in spirit, or anytime you're feeling depressed or discouraged.

I answered Kristi, "Well, if I am feeling overwhelmed, I guess I'm believing that God is giving me too much to bear. I guess I'm believing that God won't be faithful to help me. Which in essence means I guess I'm believing that God has lied to me and is not good."

Kristi's question revealed that I was thinking hard thoughts of God.

Many Christians think hard thoughts of God by believing their heavenly Father is continually disappointed with them. This reveals a deficient grasp of the Gospel, which tells us that in Christ God sees believers as justified -- "just-as-if-I’d-never-sinned," and "just-as-if-I'd-always-perfectly-obeyed". In other words, because of the blood of Christ God declares us not guilty, and because of the obedience of Christ God declares us to be positively righteous. Our heavenly Father looks upon his children with overflowing love, gentleness and compassion, not disappointment, anger and frustration. If we think that God is continually disappointed in us that is thinking hard thoughts of God.

John Owen says, "Consider that it is the greatest desire of God the Father that you should have loving fellowship with him. His greatest desire is that you should receive him into your soul as one full of love, tenderness and kindness to you. Flesh and blood is apt to think hard thoughts of God, to think that he is always angry and incapable of being pleased with his sinful creatures, that it is not for them to draw near to him...'I knew that you were a hard man', said the evil servant in the Gospel." (Communion with God, 31)

When we suffer and go through trials we can be tempted to think hard thoughts of God. We can think God is not good, God is not faithful, God does not hear my prayers, God does not have loving intentions toward me.

But the Bible is filled with promises like Lamentations 3:21-23:

"But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness."

What are you believing about God right now? Do you have hard thoughts of God? Or do you believe your heavenly Father is filled with love and tender feelings for you? Do you believe he delights in you and rejoices over you with singing (Zeph. 3:17)? Do you believe he is good and working all things together for your good? Do you believe his steadfast love to you never ceases? Meditate today on God's tender love for you in Christ and give him praise.

photo by Beth Altrogge

Mr. Kazbark never liked me much from the moment he hired me to be the summer maintenance lackey at his Ocean City, New Jersey hotel. True, I was pretty much a lazy, hippie college student essentially squandering my summer in Ocean City, only working to get enough money to sustain life and have fun. True, I really didn't know how to do anything even remotely related to maintenance and I moved slightly slower than a three-toed sloth. So there was not a lot for Mr. Kazbark to like about me other than my sparkling personality. But I always found ways to provide more fodder for his disgust.

One afternoon he called me into his office and told me to go up to a room on the second floor, remove an air-conditioner the size of King Kong, then using a dolly, bring it down the outside cement steps and place it in one of the first floor units.

"I can't do that," I protested, "it's too heavy." I know he thought I was just being lazy. "Just do what I say," Mr. Kazbark barked.

Straining every fiber in my being, I managed to muscle the massive air-conditioner out of its hole in the wall and onto the dolly. The thing weighed slightly less than a grand piano. Somehow I managed to maneuver it to the top of the cement stairs. How was I ever going to get it down? I shuffled around the side and with one hand under the air-conditioner and one hand gripping the dolly, began perilously rocking it from side to side, sliding it down the first step of about 20. Suddenly the air-conditioner launched itself into the air, bouncing down the steps in slow motion -- nuts, bolts, coils and other unidentifiable parts flying off in all directions. I'll never forget the sight. It was beautiful, in a twisted sort of way.

Like I said, Mr. Kazbark never liked me much. But after that, every time he looked at me I couldn't help but think he regarded me as a life form somewhere between a cockroach and a garden slug.

How does Christ look upon his children whom he purchased with his blood? With delight or disgust? With pleasure or annoyance? Is he like the character from Jane Austen, "Mr. Darcy, who never looks at any woman but to see a blemish”? Does Jesus never look upon us but to see our failures, shortcomings and sins?

Zepheniah 3.17 says:

The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save;
he will rejoice over you with gladness;
he will quiet you by his love;
he will exult over you with loud singing.

What an amazing Scripture. Christ looks upon his children with utter delight. He actually rejoices over us with gladness. He’s happy with us. He’s glad he saved us. He’s so delighted in us he sings loud songs over us. Wow. What does that sound like? I can’t wait to hear Jesus singing.

God’s delight in us originated in his own heart in eternity past. He loved us with an everlasting love. Not because we were lovable or worthy or desirable, but simply because he chose to love us for his own reasons. The Father's love moved him to send Jesus to live and die for sinners, that he might bring us to himself, wash away our sins and clothe us with the beautiful garment of Jesus’ righteousness.

God rejoices over us, exults over us, jubilates, is elated over us. He doesn’t just tolerate us - he sings loud songs over us. Meditate on this wonderful truth this week and give thanks to our loving King.

O Father, Jesus, Holy Spirit, thank you for your love for me today. Thank you that you sing over me in love.

I once did a brief stint working construction. My boss was a bear of a man who slept with his tool belt and hard hat on. He had a perpetual chew in his mouth and spoke to me only when absolutely necessary, usually in grunts.

On my first day a truck delivered huge prefabricated walls for the second story of an apartment building. We had to set them on the deck and nail them to the floor, then together at the corners. I noticed that I was pounding each spike approximately 35 times to sink it, whereas the other guys did it in two strokes. My boss, standing down on the ground, noticed too.

“Toss me that hammer,” he ordered, bristling with all the warmth of Jabba the Hutt. I tossed it down to him. He examined it with utter disdain. “Where’d you get this Mickey Mouse hammer?” he sneered. All the crew’s eyes were on me. Trying to inject a little humor into the situation I replied, “Disney World.” Somehow my boss failed to see the humor in my comment, despite it being the funniest comeback in the world. The rest of the crew stood there mutely, like pall bearers at a graveside service. My boss gave me a withering glare and spat, “This is a finishing hammer. Take this little girl's hammer home and get yourself a 20-ounce framing hammer.” Suddenly the crew erupted, guffawing and yammering as if my boss had told the funniest joke in the 20th century. Yeah, even the aborigines in the remotest parts of Australia know the difference between a finishing hammer and a framing hammer. Week-old babies know the difference. Garden slugs know the difference. That’s so hilarious.

Throughout the rest of my short construction career, my boss always looked at me with as much delight as he would while examining a plantar wart on his foot.

Is this how God looks at his children? Is this how Christ looks on his bride? Or does he look up from his desk full of papers, peering over the top of his glasses, stifling his annoyance and disappointment, growling in a gruff tone, “What do you want now?”

Paul gives us some insight when he exhorts husbands, “He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body.” (Eph 5.28-30).

Did you catch the word “cherishes”? Christ cherishes his bride. To cherish means to take joy in, delight in, treat as dear, care for tenderly. If you have a cherished family heirloom, you take pleasure in it, treasure it, prize it.

I’ve known people who have inherited their grandmother’s china. They put it in a special cabinet. They don’t use it for everyday meals. They don’t put hot dogs on it and stick it in the microwave. It’s different from all their other china. They handle it carefully. They cherish it. A friend of mine was given a document signed by Charles Spurgeon, the famous 19th century preacher. He had it framed and displays it in a prominent place in his home. He doesn’t leave it out on the table, to set his coffee cup on. He prizes it, cherishes it.

Jesus cherishes his bride. If you’re a believer, you’re part of his bride. This means Jesus cherishes you, because of his free love that moved him to shed his blood to purchase you. He takes pleasure in you and delights in you. Joy rises in his heart when you come to him. His eyes light up with love. We should always think of Jesus as being full of love to us. Meditate this week on Jesus’ steadfast, tender, affection for you, and respond to his love with gratefulness and praise.

O Jesus, thank you for your cherishing love for me. I love you, worship and adore you.

How does God look at you?

Let’s take a simple test. How would you answer the following question: When Jesus Christ looks at me, he:

1.Feels slightly disappointed.
2.Feels angry at me and wants to punish me.
3.Feels annoyed. Thinks, why can’t you get it right? How long do I have to put up with you?
4.Feels genuine pleasure in me.
5.Feels tender affection and love for me.
6.Delights in me.

Over the years many fellow believers have told me they believe in their head that God loves them, but have nagging doubts that he really finds them pleasing in his sight. Many of us are like the servant who buried his talent in the ground, who said, “Master, I knew you to be a hard man.” We think of God as a “hard man” who scrutinizes us for every flaw. We think of him as shaking his head in disappointment and saying, “Is this the best you can do for me?” We’re so aware of our shortcomings and sins we can’t believe that Jesus could possibly take pleasure in us.

But Christ’s love for those he redeemed is the tender, cherishing, delighting love of a husband for his bride. Paul exhorts husbands to “love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her” (Eph 5:25). Christ loved his bride so much he eagerly left heaven to endure poverty, hunger, weariness and thirst to redeem her. He was glad to be rejected, mocked, tortured, crucified, and drink God's foaming cup of wrath to purchase us, his bride, with his own blood (Acts 20:28).

Genesis tells us that Jacob so delighted in Rachel, he was glad to work for seven years to obtain her as his wife: “So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed to him but a few days because of the love he had for her” (29:20). Jesus’ ardor for his bride is infinitely greater than Jacob’s. Jesus didn’t grouse and grumble about coming for her – he rejoiced, even though it meant he’d endure infinite pain.

Every believer is a part of Christ’s bride. As Jesus delights in his bride, he delights in every believer individually. If you have trusted in him as your Savior and God, he regards you with fondness, affection and pleasure. This love originated in the Father's heart and his own heart in eternity past and has nothing to do with anything desirable in you. He simply loved you with an everlasting love. Then he redeemed you with his blood, and clothed you in the bridal gown of his righteousness. And now as his bride, he yearns for you and rejoices over you.

Do you believe Jesus sees you this way? He does. He cherishes you. He’s glad he redeemed you. He can’t wait for you to see his glory and be with him face to face. He eagerly looks forward to the marriage feast of the Lamb, when your fellowship with him will be complete and unhindered.

Meditate this week on Jesus’ cherishing love for you. Doing so will produce gladness in your heart, love for Jesus, and anticipation of heaven.

O Jesus, thank you for your tender, affectionate, cherishing love for me. I love you and delight in you, and want to love you even more.