I’m deliberately finding joy for forty days. To start from day one click here.
We’ve made it to the final day of the joy challenge!
As I think about what I’ve learned, this sums it up…
Sharing pleasure with God is just as intimate (perhaps more so) than sharing hard times.
For some reason, it seems modern Christianity thinks that in order to be holy you also need to be serious and/or depressed.
Do you know what I’m talking about?
We feel comfortable talking about the hardships in our lives. But for some reason we blush and squirm when it comes to joy.
In the 1600s a council of churches came together to decide, among other things, the purpose of humanity. How’s that for a low-pressure meeting?
This is the conclusion they came to…
Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever.
How did we get from that to a place when I’ve heard so many Christians express (and said myself), “I feel selfish when I do something that makes me happy.”
You too?
We’ve got to reclaim joy.
If our story begins in Eden and ends in heaven then pleasure matters to God.
You’ve had those moments, haven’t you? The ones when you’re laughing, doing something you love, experiencing one of those near-perfect experiences in life when suddenly you feel this ache, this longing, for somewhere, Someone greater than yourself?
Even in marriage, pleasure comes in moments of intimacy. And if marriage is the earthly picture of our relationship with him, doesn’t it make sense that the same would be true spiritually?
I think joy, and I have tears in my eyes as I write this, JOY is God’s way of calling our hearts home…of reminding us we’re not made for here but for him.
Until then, he slips joy into our days so we remember.
This journey has reminded me to intentionally look at joy that way again–to let it lead me through this life like a series of signs that point to home and the One who waits for me there.
Our journey may be done…but let’s keep walking this way together.
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To celebrate the completion of the joy challenge, I’m giving away a fabulous Danielson sign featuring their new book crop style (photo above). It would be a great Christmas gift! Or you can just keep it. (:
The sign says…
Be strong, and let your heart take courage,
all you who hope in the Lord. Psalm 31:24
Seek joy for today, strength for tomorrow, hope always.
To be entered, leave a comment before midnight on Tuesday!
