Choose JoySample

DAY 9 – THE JOY OF THE LORD

Reflection: There is something intrinsically joyful about God. Not only does he ‘take joy’ in his creation as we learned yesterday, he has joy of his own, as part of who he is. As Christian author John Piper explains, ‘Joy is at the heart of reality’.

And this joy can be gifted to us, as Nehemiah understood in the 5th century BC. Nehemiah was a Jewish leader permitted to return to Jerusalem from exile in Persia to rebuild the destroyed city’s walls.

After accomplishing this task, against the odds, Nehemiah and the people he led learned from hearing the Scriptures how far they had departed from God’s ways. Despite their wall-building accomplishment, they began to ‘mourn and weep’ as realisation of their desolate spiritual condition gripped them.

Perhaps we, too, know what it is to feel overwhelmed by our spiritual poverty, regardless of the outward success we portray. The good news is we are not left in our grief. Instead, it has always been God’s plan that as we acknowledge our need for him, our tears are replaced with joy. A joy that is celebrated among angels and on earth. God’s own joy, the joy of his forgiving love, the joy that strengthens.

Choose joy: Listen to that quiet voice of conscience that may be telling you of things in your life to put right. As you act on these promptings, strength and joy will follow.