Forgive the shameless picture of my grandson. I was thinking about joy yesterday and this picture of Asher came to mind. Our family was on Navarre Beach in September for the wedding of our son, Joel, to his beautiful bride, Kelsey. After the ceremony Asher and I took a walk along the beach. At one point, I tossed him up in the air. You know what happened after that, don't you? "Again!" he said. "Again!"
In his book, The Life You've Always Wanted, John Ortberg writes, "Jesus came as the Joy-bringer. The joy we see in the happiest child is but a fraction of the joy that resides in the heart of God."1
What is present in God is often absent in his people. Ortberg continues,"The Bible puts joy in the nonoptional category. Joy is a command. Joylessness is a serious sin, one that religious people are particularly prone to indulge in. It may be the sin most readily tolerated by the church."2
I don't think of joylessness as a sin, but I should! God is full of joy. As I walk with him, his joy spills over into my life. Today, why not take a few moments and meditate on joy. May the great Joy-bringer cause his joy to overflow in your life.
- "Joy is the serious business of heaven." C.S. Lewis
- "To miss out on joy is to miss out on the reason for your existence." Lewis Smedes
- "Rejoice always." 1 Thessalonians 5:16 ESV
- "The joy of the LORD is your strength." Nehemiah 8:10 ESV
- "The fruit of the Spirit is . . . joy." Galatians 5:22
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1John Ortberg. The Life You've Always Wanted: Spiritual Disciplines for Ordinary People. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, p 61. 2Ortberg, pages 63-64.