I really think Warren Wiersbe is spot on when he says: “The secret of a happy life is to delight in duty. When duty becomes delight, then burdens become blessings.”[1]
As believers in Christ, we understand that it is our Christian duty to glorify God in all we do, to love one another, and to always have an attitude of gratitude. While we know this in our head, our heart may not always be in it because, quite frankly, we just don’t “feel” like doing our duty to the Lord. On this point I think we can learn an important lesson from Jesus here for we read: “looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:2). Jesus, certainly didn’t want to endure all the suffering that the cross entailed, but He knew that this was necessary to fulfill his mission on earth. I believe that Jesus understood that by fulfilling God’s will great joy would follow the pain of the cross.
What Jesus in essence did was to reframe how He viewed the cross. Rather than look at the cross as an instrument of ultimate pain, and suffering, which in one sense it clearly was, He chose to see this instrument of death as the means to bring life to the millions who would choose to trust in Him as their Savior. Jesus chose to look past the pain and see the joy that His sacrifice made possible.
The lesson that I take from this wonderful verse, (Hebrews 12:2), is that while I may not always “feel” like performing my duty for the Lord, when I do, there will always be great joy, since I know in both my head and heart that I am doing something that is pleasing to the Lord. And that my friends is the secret of turning duty into delight. When we do things that glorify the Lord and advance His kingdom we accrue a wonderful sense of delight that we are pleasing our Savior. And to me there is no greater joy or delight than knowing that when I fulfill my duty I put a smile on God’s face, which automatically turns my burdens into blessings!
Sadly, to many Christians they view duty in the same light as they view the word obedience. But I believe that both duty and obedience to Jesus are the pathway to great joy now and future rewards that are simply out of this world. When we understand this I believe that duty will truly become delight and no matter how much pain we have to endure it will pale in comparison to the joy we will receive. In closing, I ask you to memorize the following verses which will help you to turn your duty into delight: “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matthew 5:11-12).
[1] TOP 25 QUOTES BY WARREN W. WIERSBE (of 89) | A-Z Quotes (azquotes.com)