A Joy that Never Fades
We write these things to you so that our joy may be complete. (1 John 1:4)
Everybody wants to be happy. They want to do what makes them happy. They want to be around people that make them happy. They want to hear what makes them happy. In fact. we are so concerned with our happiness, that trends have started around happiness. Think of Marie Kondo and her advice to get rid of anything that doesn’t spark joy. Or listen to one of the many famous preachers. More often than not, they tell you how to be happy in this life. We go searching in many places to find happiness.
But happiness and joy are not always the same thing. In many cases they are similar but joy has a more permanent, lasting, side to it. And while many people search for happiness in various places, hoping to find joy, they never look in the one place that offers and ensures joy: the Scriptures. But that is exatly why the scritures were written. John expressly says that he wrote the things in his letter so that their joy may be complete. It’s unknown who exactly the “our” is referring to but it really doesn’t matter because God’s Word gives us all joy.
It gives us joy through the message which it proclaims. It gives us joy by showing us our sins, how we have been separated from God forever, and then by showing us that our problem has been fixed eternally. It shows us that Jesus took our sins away on the cross, that he completely destroyed sin and it’s allies. It tells us that God is our father once again because of his grace and mercy. We don’t have to do anything to earn our eternal life. That’s what brings us a joy that lasts into eternity. It’s a joy that never fades. Amen.
The song for today is “joy.” by For King and Country