The Bible shows that joy is present in all of the major events o f the Christian life. There is joy in salvation, in baptism, when we read the Word of God, and in prayer. In fact, Christian joy is so unique that the Bible teaches us that it comes even at times of discouragement. And even when we are dying!
G. K. Chesterton has written that “joy is the gigantic secret of the Christian.” I believe he’s right. This kind of joy is not known anyplace else in the world except in the life of a person who knows Jesus Christ in a personal way.
Jesus said, “These things have I spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.” John 15:11 The center of joy for the Christian is Christ. The joy is Christ’s joy. It is simply the life of the Lord Jesus Christ being lived out in an individual. Christian joy is letting Christ live His life out through you so what He is, you become. There are indeed other kinds of joy found in other places around the world, but there is no place where you can find Christian joy except in Christ.
Christian joy isn’t always laughing, always having a good, hilarious time. Rather, Christian joy is the deep settled peace that comes to live within your heart when you know that the really important spiritual issues in your life have been dealt with, and that being in-synch, then enhances both the joy and the rightness in these yet lingering earthly relationships, designed to prepare us for our joyful heavenly rewards.
BOTTOM LINE:
Life is fragile and can be taken from us by merely missing a heart-beat, or a series of them, after which we’ll live, not merely reside, somewhere eternally, experiencing either eternal joy or, damnation.
But you’re right; judging by their faces, even their attitudes, perhaps even the “redeemed” are in the dark, and don’t yet know that their “Biggest Secret is Joy.” Ever think perhaps our most pressing mission field is within the walls of the institutional church….
Taken from and prompted by David Jeremiah’s Sanctuary: Finding Moments of Refuge in the Presence of God. Aug 14