Shout joyfully to the LORD, all the earth. Serve the LORD with
gladness; come before Him with joyful singing (Psalm 100:1, 2).

Have you ever planned a major fun event and then asked yourself,
"Are we having fun yet?" Fun in uninhibited spontaneity.
Chances are the last time you really had fun it was a spontaneous,
spur-of-the-moment activity or event. Big events and expensive outings
can be fun, but sometimes we plan and spend all the fun right out of
them. I’ve often had a lot more fun in an impromptu pillow fight with my
children.

The secret to enjoying uninhibited spontaneity as a Christian is in
removing non-scriptural inhibitors. Chief among the inhibitors of
Christian fun is our fleshly tendency to keep up appearances. We don’t
want to look out of place or be thought less of by others, so we stifle
our spontaneity with a form of false decorum. That’s people-pleasing and
Paul suggested that anybody who lives to please people isn’t serving
Christ (Galatians 1:10).

I really like the uninhibited joy I see in King David, who knew the
joy of being in the presence of the Lord. He was so happy about
returning the ark to Jerusalem that he leaped and danced before the Lord
in celebration. He knew there was joy in the presence of God. But
Michal, his party-pooping wife, thought his behavior was unbecoming to a
king, and she told him so in no uncertain terms. David said, "Rain
on you, lady. I’m dancing to please the Lord, not you or anybody else.
And I’m going to keep dancing whether you like it or not" (my
paraphrase of 2 Samuel 6:21). As it turned out, Michal was the person
God judged in the incident, not David (2 Samuel 6:23). You’ll find a lot
more joy in pleasing the Lord than in trying to please people.

Frankly, I think it’s fun being saved. Being free in Christ means
that we are free to be ourselves. We’re free from our past, free from
trying to live up to other people’s expectations, free from sin and the
evil one. What a joyful, uninhibited, spontaneous life for those who are
free in Christ!

Lord, thank You for the joy of serving You, joy that is not
detrimental to body, soul or spirit.

This daily devotional is published and distributed by http://www.GOSHEN.net/. It is written
by Neil Anderson at http://www.freedominchrist.com/.