Join in the Joy
Through the years, I have frequently preached about joy. It is more than an emotion (although it includes emotion); rather, it is a settled attitude, a stable and sturdy approach to life that focuses us on the things that matter now and forever. Joy is much greater and much more powerful than happiness, which is event or circumstance driven. There is nothing wrong with happiness. It is certainly better than unhappiness. Also, we have different personalities. For example, my wife is happy-go-lucky. Of course, she has every reason to be, being married to me. However, not everyone can be married to me. We need something more substantial than happiness; that something is joy. (I will be using this opening paragraph for each of the brief messages in this series. The following material will change daily.)
The lengthy parable of Matthew 25:14-30 is both daunting and dauntless. It is distressing to think how casually we can miss divinely-appointed opportunities to serve God and others. Conversely, it is euphorically edifying to know that our God desires to reward us simply for doing what we should do. Note in verses 21 and 23 that God wants to give us “the joy of Thy Lord.” In other words, the eternal joy that is found in the character of God and thus enjoyed within the Trinity is exactly the joy that God will grant to His own. Our joy is not of an inferior grade; no, it is the joy of heaven – it is “the joy of Thy Lord.”