THE MAIN IDEA
The Father sent His Son because the Father delights in you. 

THE LORD DOES NOT DELIGHT IN PARTIAL OBEDIENCE
Partial obedience is still disobedience. In the days of Moses, the Amalekites attacked the Israelites without provocation. God promised that He would “completely blot out the name of Amalek from under heaven” (Exodus 17:14). The time had come for God’s judgment against the Amalekites to be fulfilled.  God knew that they would never repent of their “wicked” ways. If the Amalekites had only  sought the LORD, He would have freely pardoned them (Isaiah 55:6-7). Instead of destroying  everyone and everything, Saul left the king alive, as well as the best of the flocks and herds. And  then Saul gaslighted Samuel, insisting that he did obey the LORD. But Saul did not get to define  the terms of his obedience to God. And neither do we. And if our earthly bosses get to define the  terms of our employment, how much more so does God get to define the terms of our obedience? 

THE LORD DOES NOT DELIGHT IN EMPTY RELIGION
Saul was a religious man.  But he was also a perfect example of people who practice a form of godliness but deny its power (2 Timothy 3:2-5). Saul knew how to “play church,” but “playing church” is nothing more than  empty religion, because it is not grounded in a relationship with Christ. Saul did not have a  relationship with God. Saul’s empty religion was evident in his partial obedience, particularly  when he celebrated HIS own victory over the Amalekites first at Carmel before worshiping God at Gilgal. It’s clear where his priorities were. And so we must make our relationship with Jesus  Christ a priority in our lives. Either we don’t know what it means to have a relationship with  Jesus, or we have an idea but just aren’t willing to make a relationship with Jesus a priority in  our lives. A relationship with Jesus entails obeying His commands (John 14:23), especially His  command to love one another (John 13:34-35), so that we might make disciples of all nations  (Matthew 28:19-20), which takes a community effort (Hebrews 10:24-25). 

THE LORD DELIGHTS IN THOSE WHO DELIGHT IN CHRIST
We all have a little  bit—or maybe a lot—of Saul inside of us—his insecurities, his pride, his selfishness, his lack of  wisdom, his going through the motions of religion. And because there is something of Saul  inside of all of us, what we see in Saul is why we all need a Savior. Because of sin, our  obedience always falls short, and our worship always falls short. We are all prisoners of the law  of sin at work in our bodies, leading to death (Romans 7:22-24). And so Jesus Christ is the only  solution to our disobedience and to our empty religion! “Therefore, there is now no  condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). And being in Christ Jesus is not  merely some abstract theological concept. Being in Christ describes a life of faith that lives for  the purposes of God, that lives for the glory of God, and that submits to Jesus Christ as Lord—to  say what He says, do what He does, and to go where He goes. But being in Christ is not about  our moral perfection. Being in Christ is about delighting in Christ. Because “God is most  glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him” (John Piper). And it’s not just that the Lord  delights in our obedience, which He does, or delights in our true worship, which He does. The  Lord delights in you! And we don’t really experience the fullness of God’s delight over us until  we fully delight in Christ! (Zephaniah 3:17; Psalm 149:4-5; Psalm 37:4). 

DISCUSSION QUESTION
What are some things that you truly “delight” in? Can you imagine having that  same “delight” in Christ? Based on the things you “delight” in, how might that inform what  your “delight” in Christ might look like?