This time of year seems to bring the word “joy” to mind more than any other time of the year. It is, after all, a joyful season. We find great joy in being able to spend time with friends and family. We enjoy many good meals together with those we love, and we enjoy giving and receiving gifts to and from others. It doesn’t seem to take much to put joy into our lives, as long as we are the benefactors of something useful to me.
Store windows promote appealing objects, the papers put in ads giving us a chance to save money on gifts we need to purchase, the internet promotes sales, Black Friday goes on for a week or longer, and it goes on and on… It seems there is no end to all of the material things at our disposal to bring us joy!
We as Christians should “pray for joy, wait for joy, long for joy” (Valley of Vision p. 292) but not the joy that material things bring us. Our attention should be on the joy that being a child of God brings to us. The Christmas season should bring to our minds the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ, and the gift of eternal life we have through God’s incredible gift of His Son. To quote again from Valley of Vision, “there is no joy like the joy of Heaven.” This is the joy we should seek every day.
In the John 15:11 it says; “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.” The “things” John is talking about were not our earthly, material possessions, but rather all the blessings God has in store for us when we follow Him. Just take the time during this season to look at the passages that reference “blessed” in your Bible, I think you will find that being a child of God, with all the blessings He has promised us, should fill you with joy during this Christmas season.
Romans 15:13; “Now may the God of hope fill you with all Joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
North Bullitt Christian Church 