THE REJOICING

Many songs we sing as followers of Christ call us to rejoice, especially at Christmas. If you think for a minute, you will hear lines from hymns and praises calling you to rejoice. Good Christian men rejoice, with heart and soul and voice. Rejoice, Rejoice, Immanuel, and the list goes on.

Joice means joyous; when we rejoice, we return to joy. Now, you can see where the English name Joyce came from. Indeed, the birth of a child is a joyous occasion. If you ponder it for a moment, whether you have one child or ten, each returns you to the joy of the gift.

The Bible speaks to us about rejoicing over 200 times in the Old and New Testaments. In Deuteronomy, it speaks of rejoicing before the Lord as we eat, remember, or celebrate.

We are trying to organize old photographs into a semblance of order at my house. We do not get very far because we stop and reflect on each photo and the memories attached and soon we re-joice, return to joy.

Many things cause us to rejoice. I rejoiced with someone a few weeks back when the news from the doctor was a better diagnosis than what they had feared. We prayed together and returned to joy.

Joy is not a fleeting thing; it is a deeply held conviction. Joy is not to be confused with happiness; happiness will fade. Joy in the Lord is eternal. Think for a moment; you can be happy with the child (the one you were joyous about at their birth) in one moment and angry with them the next. Happiness is momentary. It is the joy of God’s gift that even in your anger, you love them, want what is best for them, and return to joy.

Joy is always rooted in God’s love and your love for Him. Doesn’t it make sense that our rejoicing should be as well? When we read God’s Word and look for him, our soul rejoices and returns to joy because we remember our place in Christ Jesus.

What would cause us to need rejoicing, to re-joice? It might seem counterintuitive to lose what is eternal in nature. I would say to you it is not lost; it is that we have forgotten or been distracted from the source of our joy.

Romans 8:38-39 says,

“For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

The love of our heavenly Father, which nothing can separate us from, is the source of our rejoicing. We have to be reminded of who gives us hope and joy.

We come together as believers to help each other to remember the hope we have that our joy might be evident to all. This is discipleship. We must diligently read God’s Word, pray to our Lord, use our spiritual gifts, and share his goodness with others.

“Take pains with these things; be absorbed in them, so that your progress will be evident to all. 16 Pay close attention to yourself and to the teaching; persevere in these things, for as you do this you will save both yourself and those who hear you.”
I Timothy 4: 15-16 NASB

Discipleship is a call to re-joice, return to the joy of the Lord, and live it before others. In Chronicles, the recounting of David, is given a time of rejoicing. David has had his times of struggle and selfishness, but he is learning to struggle well.

In 1 Chronicles 16, David has finished seeing that the tribes have returned to their duties, so they were successful in bringing the ark of the covenant of God to the city of David. This comes after a disastrous attempt to do the right thing the wrong way. David was angry and afraid of God.

David remembered the right way and the right spirit when he humbled himself to see his struggle was caused by his own mistake. David struggled well to find his joy in the Lord, and this is where we find his words of praise.

“Give thanks to the Lord, call upon His name;
Make His deeds known among the peoples.
Sing to Him, sing praises to Him;
Speak of all His wonders.
Boast in His holy name;
Let the heart of those who seek the Lord be joyful.
Seek the Lord and His strength;
Seek His face continually.
Remember His wonderful deeds which He has done,
His marvels and the judgments from His mouth.”
I Chronicles 16:8-12 NASB

Following Christ leads our hearts to rejoice. We read God’s Word to remember that his goodness and his plans are perfect. Rejoicing fills our hearts with praise for God and we tell others of his goodness. Rejoicing comes as we seek the Lord and his strength continually. Rejoicing works best when we do it together; again, I say rejoice!

This post originally appeared at: The Rejoicing — The Bonhoeffer Project