Fullness of Joy
The third post in our Christmas series Peace, Love, Joy has been written by Jon Marshall. Earlier in the year Jon talked about Praying with Joy.
Stepping into joy
Ask anyone what they want out of life and you’ll likely hear a reply along the lines of, all I want is to be happy. I’ve noticed that as a dad, whenever one of my children are hurt or sad (or grumpy), my instinct is to try and get a smile out of them. There is something hardwired into all of us that is looking for what the Bible would describe as joy.
As Christians, we can sometimes shy away from seeking joy because we may fear that we’re inadvertently seeking something sinful or just being selfish. The Bible certainly steers us away from the shallow pleasures of this world, but it is because our heavenly Father has put in us a desire for something far better. Happiness can be a transient emotion dependent on circumstance, but joy goes far deeper. The Bible isn’t shy about offering us reward (Matt 6), complete joy (John 16), and pleasures forevermore (Ps 16)!
This God-glorifying desire is fulfilled through continually and proactively stepping into joy in God through faith in Jesus or “rejoicing in the Lord always” (Phil 4).
Living joyfully
But isn’t it hard to live in daily? Some days it doesn’t take much for my joy to be depleted by the cares of this world. Why? What is taking my joy?
Psalm 16v11 makes the following compelling offer:
You make known to me the path of life;
in your presence there is fullness of joy;
at your right hand are pleasures for evermore.
This is a beautiful passage, offering a simple image of walking through life with the joy of the Lord. But how does that simplicity work in our complicated lives?
His path has so many unexpected twists and turns. It may take us over a mountain. It may take us through the valley of the shadow of death. It has laughter. It has tears. Sometimes all at the same time! But this is His path. I can walk in joy on His path now and it leads on into eternal joy!
Fullness of joy
So the question comes to me, am I courageously staying true to the path of life that He has given me?
I will find joy in loving those that God has put in my path.
I will find joy in rejecting the sin that tries to draw me off it.
I will find joy in trusting in hard times that He is present and has good plans for me.
In the darkest times, that joy can feel far away. But Jesus has walked that path too! He walked the hardest of paths as he went to the cross for us. Amazingly, Hebrews 12v2 describes the thing that got him through was the joy set before Him! He is now seated at the right hand of the Father in fullness of joy. He won’t leave you in those darkest of times.
Indeed, He beckons us now toward fullness of joy with Him. This is good news that the world around us needs more than ever as it tires of the shallow, empty, failing promises of the consumerist world around us.
Let’s demonstrate and offer the joy that is not dependent of circumstance, but one that comes through courageously and obediently walk his path of life today.
Thank you Jon
