By Pastor Greg...
A
married couple in their early 60's was celebrating their 40th wedding
anniversary in a quiet, romantic restaurant.
Suddenly, a tiny fairy appeared on their table and said, "For being
such an exceptional couple and for loving to each other over the years, I will
grant you each a wish." The wife
answered, "Oh, I want to travel around the world with my darling
husband." The fairy waved her magic
wand and - POOF! - two tickets for a luxury
cruise appeared in her hands. The
husband thought for a moment, then replied, "Well, this is all very
romantic, but an opportunity like this will never come again. I'm sorry
my love, but my wish is to have a wife 30 years younger than me." The wife and the fairy were deeply
disappointed, but a wish is a wish. So,
the fairy waved her magic wand;
POOF!
The
husband became 92 years old.
The
moral of this story: Men should remember fairies are female.
We
humans sure do a lot of wishing, don’t we?
And our society encourages us to wish.
Almost the entire media industry is trying
to feed our desires. Most people wish for joy, and, quite frankly, most people
are buying what our society is selling.
We are being sold on the idea that some “thing,” “place” or
“circumstance” will give us joy. But,
those who have what they desire still struggle to find joy.
Consider
King Solomon. He was the wisest of the
wise, yet he struggled to find joy. He
looked for it in money, power, and women (this man had 700 wives!). He poured himself into national reform,
education, and many different religions, but none of these gave him the joy he
desired. That’s because unwavering and
unshakable joy comes from God, and He gives us this joy when we humbly serve
Him by serving others.
According
to Jesus, there is no joy apart from Him.
On the night before He was crucified, Jesus told His Apostles, (John 15:5-11)
5 “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in
me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do
nothing. 6 Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like
a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be
burned. 7 But if you remain in me and my words remain in you,
you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! 8 When
you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to
my Father. 9 I have loved you
even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love. 10 When you
obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s
commandments and remain in his love. 11 I have told you these
things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!”
[1]
Jesus
gave His followers clear instructions here; He clearly told them that if
they bore fruit, they would be filled
with joy. And when He says, “bearing
fruit,” He means, “giving strength and life to others.” The apple that grows at the end of the branch
benefits others, not the branch itself.
The joy that God gives to His people is found when Christians “give
strength and life to others.”
Perhaps
this is why there is a lack of joy in our world today; too many people take
from others rather than give themselves to others. Too many people are looking for the right
person or the right job or the right conditions to make them happy. They want real joy in their life but do not
realize the joy they desire comes from being
a blessing, not being blessed.
So,
real joy is found in doing God’s
will. This is a promise from God. However, this promise of joy is not quite like the promise of wisdom. This promise is tied to our actions and our
attitude, not on external conditions.
For
the Christian, joy is not determined by the environment. It shouldn’t take the right location and the
right conditions to have our hearts filled with joy; biblical joy is something we are given when our heart is
in the right place, and our attitude is
focused on others.
And
there’s the rub; if we find it difficult to be joyful, we are the ones who need
to change, not everything else around us.
If conditions and environment dictate your mood, then, according to the
Lord, you are focused too much on
yourself; you expect the world and those around you to make you happy. But real joy, according to Jesus, is given to
those who serve others, give of themselves to others, and love others before
loving themselves.
The
Apostle Paul recommended this attitude to the Christians living in
Philippi. Paul wrote, “3 Don’t be selfish;
don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than
yourselves. 4 Don’t look out only for your own interests, but
take an interest in others, too. 5 You must have the same
attitude that Christ Jesus had” [2]
(Philippians 2:3-5).
I
don’t know if you see me as a joyful person, but if you do, then you need to
know I wasn’t always this cheerful.
There was a period in my life when I was like a grumpy old bear; I would storm into the house and complain that
someone had eaten my porridge. I used to
be quite selfish; I used people and
expected the world to cater to my needs.
I had already been saved, mind you, but I simply did not have any joy in my life. That all changed on the day I humbled myself
before God and became His servant: not a pastor, mind you, but a servant.
I found joy when I started doing my best at being a blessing to others.
If
life makes you weary, and the absence of joy in your life is a heavy burden,
you don’t need a magical fairy to wave her wand and make things better. You need to humble yourself before Jesus. “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens,
and I will give you rest,”[3]
says the Lord (Matthew 11:28-30).
God
promises to give us joy, but that joy comes when we have a Christ-like attitude
toward others. Joy is given when we are humble (placing others ahead of
ourselves), when we serve others, and when we love others. Joy overflows within us not because others
exist to make us happy, but because God has gifted us to be a blessing toward
others. When you learn to be a blessing
toward others, then your joy will overflow.
[1]
Tyndale House Publishers. (2013). Holy Bible: New Living Translation
(Jn 15:5–11). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.
[2]
Tyndale House Publishers. (2013). Holy Bible: New Living Translation
(Php 2:3–5). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.
[3] Tyndale House Publishers. (2013). Holy Bible: New Living Translation
(Mt 11:28–30). Carol Stream, IL.
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