If we’ve caught any glimpse of the joy that fellowship with God would bring to us, then no price will be too great to pay to learn that love. We’ll not even balk at the requirement of repentance. Our hearts and our minds will be open to Him.
We must want what is good with all of our hearts. Like our Lord who “for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross,” we must be moved primarily by joy and hope. The prospect of one day seeing God’s face must be the main part of our strength.
Just as surely as any work of art ever revealed the heart of the artist, God’s creative work tells us that He is a God of love. A world like the one we live in could not have been made by a God who did not take delight in beauty and joy.