December 5, 2016
today’s meditation verse…
Matthew 25:23 His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Enter into the joy of your master!’
I think it is safe to say that the world is longing for joy. It is that ultimate feeling that overshadows all other emotions. That first feeling of being ‘in love’ is joyous and often gives way as true love, commitment, settles in and we do the right thing whether it feels joyous or not.
When we are in pain or sad we long for joy. It seems that no other negative emotion can coexist with joy. But is does seem in this world to be a fleeting feeling or emotion. One minute we are basking in it and then next without warning it simply vanishes like a vapor and we are left longing.
Joy is not happiness and maybe that is where we misjudge joy. If we are happy then we assume we have joy. If the day is going well we assume we have joy. If we are smiling we assume we have joy. But maybe not.
Joy is a facet of the one genuine fruit of the Spirit. One fruit, several facets, one of which is joy. This leads me to believe that if the Holy Spirit resides in us then that joy resides in us and doesn’t come and go with the wind or change of conditions.
So how do we tap into that joy that resides in us? The scripture above shows a prerequisite of faithfulness. If I were to paraphrase this scripture I would say that this person was faithful with the task he was given to do and the master or keeper of joy allowed him to enter because of that faithfulness.
I will write more about this topic this week. Look forward to Wednesday Word Study and then Friday when I expand on both Monday Meditations and Wednesday Word Study.
But for now let’s ask ourselves, are we faithful not only in our eyes, but in the Master’s as well? Would he say to us, ‘enter into the joy of the master’?
No matter what your beliefs are, I want to thank you for visiting my Christian blog!
Nancy
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