Joy Inexpressible
“Whom
having not seen you love. Though now you do not see
Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy
inexpressible and full of glory” (1 Peter
1:8)
On Thursdays, we have the
privilege of visiting the Southland Convalescent
Home, where I teach a Bible study to the residents
of that facility. We’ve been in Psalms since April
of last year and have reached Psalm 107. After the
study, my wife and I often wheel my mother into the
“Plum Blossom”
coffee shop across the hall and watch the birds
outside enjoy the seeds in the bird feeder, while we
sip our tea and reminisce.
Recently, we walked and wheeled
through the various patios around the structure and,
after looking at snow capped mountains in the
distance, watched some activity in the school yard
across the street: a man was jogging around the
school track. Accompanying him was a small boy in a
scout uniform along with a little white dog. The
man just kept going around the oval of that track.
His steps were uniform, somewhere between a walk and
a run. He was jogging. The boy would take a few
steps, then lie down on the grassy infield, get up
again in a few moments, and walk across the infield
area to meet the man on the other side. The little
white dog was having a wonderful time, running as
fast as possible in zigzag patterns across the track
in front of and behind the man.
The three were so different in
their actions that I found myself comparing each of
them with others I have known and with myself. I
have to admit that I’m more like the boy or the dog
than like the man who paced himself. My style has
always been bursts of energy, where I do everything
as fast as I can and then have to rest. Like the
boy, I “lie down” periodically, especially when
performing repetitious tasks.
But as I continued watching, I
focused on the little dog and he delighted me – he
was so happy in what he was doing, and I realized
that I have become, through contact with the Lord,
much less like the boy who lacked enthusiasm, and so
much more like the little white dog who was filled
with “joy inexpressible”
as he danced around that track.
The Word of God makes a great
difference. His Word can change us from that
unmotivated boy into scampering, delighted people,
not unlike the happy little dog, who just loved to
be out on that track with his master. The “Word”
of God is Jesus Christ (John 1:1, 14), and the
Bible, the written Word of God, is about Him. When
we fill our lives with His written Word, we meet the
Holy Spirit, who introduces us to the Son of God, in
ways we never even thought about before. It is
promised that we, who have not yet seen the Lord,
will “rejoice with joy
inexpressible and
(be) full of glory”
(1 Peter 1:8).
As quoted in ChristianGlobe.com,
“Turning Point”
published an interesting article in May, 1993, which
discussed “joy.”
The article took the interesting position of looking
at it from circumstances where it is NOT found!
Joy, they observed, is NOT found in:
“UNBELIEF”
– Voltaire, a famous French author who was an
atheist, wrote – ‘I wish
I had never been born.’
“PLEASURE”
– Lord Byron, a great poet who involved himself in
bi-sexual affairs and incest, wrote, ‘The
worm, the canker and grief are mine alone.’
“MONEY”
– Jay Gould, the incredibly rich American
millionaire, said, as he was dying, ‘I
suppose I am the most miserable man on earth.’
“POSITION
& FAME” – Lord Beaconsfield (Benjamin
Disraeli), a great English statesman, wrote, ‘Youth
is a mistake; manhood a struggle; old age a regret.’
“MILITARY
GLORY” – Alexander the Great conquered the
known world, but then wept in his tent, complaining,
‘There are no more worlds
to conquer.’”
“Joy,”
an emotion which is important to us all, has been
very elusive and fleeting to almost everyone who has
ever lived. The Lord, who loves us and wants our
best, COMMANDED us to have joy. He said, through
the Apostle Paul: “Rejoice
always!” (1 Thessalonians 5:16). You’ve
lived for awhile on this earth and understand that
to “rejoice always”
is impossible. “Impossible” for us, but all things
are possible for the Lord – even our joy!
Bruce Larson, in “Luke,”
page 43, wrote about a conference in Omaha,
Nebraska. People were given helium filled balloons
and were told to release them at a point in the
service when they felt like expressing the joy in
their hearts. Because of certain doctrinal beliefs,
the attendees didn’t speak words out loud like, “Hallelujah”
or “Praise the Lord.”
All through the service balloons ascended, but when
it was over, one third of the balloons were
unreleased. Mr. Larson’s apt comment was this: “Let
your balloon go.”
ChristianGlobe.com commented on
“joy,” quoting the
words of Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., a member of the
United States Supreme Court for 30 years. It was
said that “his mind, wit
and work earned him the unofficial title of ‘the
greatest justice since John Marshall.’” The
article continued, “At
one point in his life, Justice Holmes explained his
choice of a career by saying, ‘I might have entered
the ministry if certain clergymen I knew had not
looked and acted so much like undertakers.’”
You and I have to wonder: What do WE look like?
You might want to look a little
more like that white scampering dog who was
DELIGHTED with life, and less like that little boy
who was tired of it all, or the man who just plodded
along. Are we to be like “dogs” in the sight of
God? No, we’re not; especially when we delight in
the Lord and receive His love. He has given the
privilege of salvation to all those who merely
BELIEVE, offering the option of “joy
inexpressible and full of glory” (1 Peter
1:8). I want that joy, and in the depths of your
soul, you want it, too!
In today’s sermon we looked at
a group of influential men who had what this WORLD
counts valuable, and yet they had no joy. The earth
has many people like that. Are you tired of being
unhappy? Peter, who met the Lord personally and can
testify about Him, taught us in today’s Scripture
that “believing” in the Lord is the key to “joy.”
Let’s believe:
Lord, I want JOY in my life.
Forgive me for seeking the things of this world,
when I should have been looking to You. I believe,
and I trust in You now. In Jesus Name. Amen.
