“REJOICE IN THE Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice” (Phil. 4:4). This word “rejoice,” or “joy,” occurs thirteen times in this letter to the Philippians—a letter written from jail! Thirteen lotus blossoms of joy come to the surface of this letter, rooted in the muck and mire of injustice. It is a joy in spite of.
The Christian faith is the most joyous faith in the world. It is not a Pollyanna type of religion that sees no evil, however. It is rooted in pessimism—the pessimism of the cross. It wins its optimism out of pessimism. So it is at once the most pessimistic and the most optimistic of religions. Buddhism says, “Life is suffering.” Christianity says, “Life is suffering—Glory, hallelujah, Easter is here!” Some stop at the first half, and they “follow their own hearse around.” They have an Easter in their calendar, but not in their character.
Psychology is stressing the health of joyfulness. The joyless person is on the skids—physically. Nothing tones up the system as much as a constant flow of joy. Nothing tones down the system as much as a constant flow of depression and sadness.
In Christ, life is joy. Outside Christ, life is pure sadness. On a plane everybody got air sick except the stewardess and one passenger, for the plane was tossing violently. This passenger helped many. After the storm had died down, the passenger began to sing to himself. This irked a lady passenger behind him who said bitterly, “No one has a right to be as happy as you are.” He went back and sat with her and told her of the source of his happiness—Jesus Christ. She listened intently, and before the journey was finished she had accepted Christ and was rejoicing too. This movie star had been on the top of the world on the outside and down in the dumps on the inside. Now she moved from the cellar to the sky parlor. J-O-Y—Jesus Over You. They are one and inseparable.
O Jesus, Thou art joy—joy with no hangover. Thou art pure, unalloyed joy. I do not have to seek for joy when I have Thee. To have Thee is to have joy. My soul sings its way down the joyous years. I thank Thee, thank Thee. Amen.
AFFIRMATION FOR THE DAY: My springs of joy are in the everlasting hills—they never run dry.
