Joy, Then and the Now

A joyful kingdom awaits when our Lord Jesus returns to reign, but we aren’t there yet. Does that mean we’re doomed to trudge in sadness until then?

No! The One who will bring joy to the whole world at His return can bring joy to your heart right now. God has endless reserves of joy. He can fill our lives with rejoicing without endangering or diminishing the reserves He needs for the future. Wherever the King of kings reigns, there is joy. Our joy is drawn from the personality of our King, who is joyous by nature.

Is the joy of the Lord filling your heart today? Perhaps the happiest command in the Bible is the one Jesus issued on the day of His resurrection. According to Matthew 28, a group of women rose early in the morning to walk through the streets of Jerusalem, making their way to the garden tomb to tend to the corpse of Jesus of Nazareth, only to find the stone rolled away from its entrance. They were met by angels who told them the Lord had risen from the dead. The women ran back to take the news to the disciples. But they were stopped in their tracks when a man suddenly appeared in front of them with a one-word command.

Matthew 28:9 says, “And as they went to tell His disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, ‘Rejoice!’”

That simple decree has reverberated through the ages and echoes to you and me. No matter what we’re going through or facing, Jesus is alive. He who died for us has risen from the dead and is alive forevermore to care for us, keep His promises to us, and infuse us with His joy.

I’ve come to believe biblical words like happiness, joy, gladness, and cheer are synonyms. God wants us to be happy right now.

We are not far away from a time when we will experience worldwide joy, the likes of which the earth has never seen, but don’t wait until then. Choose to enjoy the happiness of the Lord right now. Live today with constant deliberate obedience to the resurrection command of your risen Savior: “Rejoice!”

Gracious Lord, thank you for the joy you deposit in my heart by your Spirit at work in me. May your joy be my strength today. Amen.