John Piper Devotional

How Not to Pursue God

“If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight and the holy day of the Lord honorable; if you honor it, not going your own ways, or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly; then you shall take delight in the Lord, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth.” (Isaiah 58:13-14)

It is possible to pursue God without glorifying God. If we want our quest to honor God, we must pursue him for the joy in fellowship with Him.

Consider the Sabbath as an illustration of this. The Lord rebukes his people for seeking “their own” pleasure on his holy day. But what does he mean? He means they are delighting in their business and not in the beauty of their God.

He does not rebuke their hedonism. He rebukes the weakness of it. They have settled for secular interests and thus honor them above the Lord.

Notice that calling the Sabbath “a delight” is parallel to calling the holy day of the Lord “honorable.” This simply means you honor what you delight in. Or you glorify what you enjoy.

The enjoyment and the glorification of God are one. His eternal purpose and our eternal pleasure unite.