by Rhonda Rhea @RhondaRhea

I feel you should know that if you hand me a tennis racket, it’s already a pretend guitar. And though I’m not a hard-rocker, my pretend guitar only plays imaginary hard rock. No matter how incongruent that looks on me, I will play it. With eyes-closed and unmerited confidence. I won’t play tennis, mind you. But I have no choice but to rock that racketar like I’ve never in my life been a mature adult.

It’s sort of a visual joke. And yes, I do know the joke doesn’t totally work. But somehow it still happens. If you don’t understand that, it might mean you can’t take a joke. Or it might mean you have better taste in jokes than you knew.

Anytime I’m trying to decide whether I should “take” a joke, I take a minute. I take stock. Maybe take it all in or take it under advisement. Sometimes at that point I realize I should take it back a notch. Take a breath. Take a hint. Take it slower. Take a chill pill or a take a raincheck. Take the nearest exit.

Other times I might just take my chances, take action, take it for a spin, take the bull by the horns, take it to the limits.

They say it takes all kinds. I take that seriously. Yes, that’s my take.

So much better, though, we would all do well to take note of David’s take in Psalm 37:4. “Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart’s desires” (CSB). Delight. For the taking! And as we delight in Him, our hearts’ desires move from all the wrong ways of taking, to thinking and operating in the delight of His love.

It’s here we can truly take Him at His word. Take it to heart. Take courage. Take comfort. Truly take hold of our faith in joy. Psalm 16:11 confirms it. “In your presence is abundant joy” (CSB). Oh, the delight!

“Delight” in Psalm 37:4 has its roots in the Hebrew “anog,” which refers to softness. The delight we find in Him is the sweet, most loving, comfiest kind of joy. Joy from the blessings we receive from Him, yes. But even more. It’s simply enjoying His presence. Reveling in who He is. And though it’s tender, it’s a highly active delight.

It’s true, a beautiful thanks, praise, worship—the joy, the peace, the blessing—are all wrapped up in choosing to actively take delight. The active statements kicking off each verse in the Psalm 37 passage remind us of that.

“Trust in the Lord…” (verse 3).

“Take delight in the Lord…” (verse 4).

“Commit your way to the Lord…” (verse 5).

That verb-centric delight-taking is framed by trusting commitment. A heart that trusts and follows after Him is one that delights. Delight and trust go together so powerfully. Eternally more so than a tennis racket and any imaginary guitaring. Our God inspires a song of delight in our hearts that can’t be compared to anything else in life.

So what’s our “take”-away here? Don’t take this lightly. Take it from me. Take an interest. Take it in context. Take a close look. Take a stand. Take the initiative. Take the plunge. Delighting in Him is a joy that will take your breath away. Take that delight. Whatever it takes.

Oh, and please don’t “take” this the wrong way, but I’ll still be taking up that racketar. Sometimes I can’t take a joke. But I can almost always joke a take.

Rhonda Rhea is an award-winning humor columnist for great magazines such as HomeLife, Leading Hearts, The Pathway, and many more. She is the author of 19 books, including the popular romantic comedies co-authored with her daughter Kaley Rhea, Off-Script & Over-Caffeinated and Turtles in the Road. Rhonda and Kaley have also teamed up with Bridges TV host Monica Schmelter for the Messy to Meaningful books and TV projects. Along with Beth Duewel, Rhonda writes the Fix Her Upper series, and she also co-authored Unruffled: Thriving in Chaos with Edie Melson. She speaks at conferences and events from coast to coast, serves on many boards and committees, and stays busy as a publishing consultant. Rhonda says you can find her living near St. Louis drinking too much coffee and snort-laughing with her pastor/husband, five grown children, and a growing collection of the most exceptional grandbabies.