Marked By JoySýnishorn

Marked by Joy

Habakkuk 3:17-19

So sure was the prophet Habakkuk about the merciful intentions of God that the book ends not with the prophet crying his eyes out, as he was doing at the beginning of the book, but with him “singing joyful praise to God” (verse 18). And he is not alone.

Go back as far as you can in prerecorded history, back to the dawn of the universe, and there you’ll find joy. The Creation is characterized by celebration (Job 38:6-7; Proverbs 8:22-31). Turning to the time of the New Testament, Christ is characterized by joy (John 8:29; 15:11). In the parable of the lost son, heaven in the present is characterized by joy, feasting, music, and dancing (Luke 15:11-32). Finally, looking forward to the future, John shows us a picture of heaven (Revelation 19:6-9). It will be a feast, where the people shout, “Let us celebrate, let us rejoice, let us give him the glory!” (verse 7).

The story of faith begins and ends in joy. And in between, there is joy. Joy permeated Paul’s life, even in the place you would have least expected it—in prison (see the book of Philippians). For more than twenty centuries, Christians have been exhibiting joy. There have been sad, even morose, Christians, to be sure. But the ones who have inspired us have been marked by joy. In fact, when the Roman Catholic Church looked for reasons to canonize a Christian as a “saint,” one of the standard qualifications was the evidence of hilaritas, a Latin word that means “cheerfulness, good humor, joyousness, merriment, hilarity.” In other words, they had to be joyful people, capable of laughing, praising, and celebrating, which is one thing that rankled the Pharisees about Jesus (Matthew 11:16-19; also see Luke 15:1-3, 31-32). Jesus was certainly a man of sorrows, able to enter into real grief, but He was also a man of joy (compare John 11:1-35 with 2:1-11).

Paul. Jesus. Habakkuk. Anyone who gets in touch with God gets in touch with joy. All true joy is derivative. It doesn’t originate from the world. It doesn’t originate from us. It originates from Him. And when we get close to Him, it rubs off.

How much evidence of joy is in your life? Are you joyful, capable of laughing, praising, and celebrating all that God has done for you?

For more insights from Eugene H. Peterson, visit MessageBible.com . Translated by Peterson from the original Greek and Hebrew Scriptures, The Message combines the authority of God’s Word with the cadence and energy of conversational English. At just over one inch thick, The Message Slimline, Spring Wildflowers Edition slips easily into your bag, your briefcase, and your daily life.