Luke 19:6 NLT
Zacchaeus quickly climbed down and took Jesus to his house in great excitement and joy.
Spend some time today thinking about something that goes far beyond temporary pleasure. I am talking about joy. This is the heart driven, not situation driven, experience that allows you to be who God made you to be.
The verse above talks about an experience many of us have heard about. That time when God picked one man out of the crowd to spend time with him. Zacchaeus wasn’t chosen because of what he had or what he had done.
He was excited about the person he heard about was coming to his house. In fact he was joyous about the occasion, but that joy spilled over in to things that brought him much more joy. This joy lasted. This joy had memories flooding it for him and stories being told all the way through now.
Luke 15:7 NASB
I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of repentance.
Do you have that kind of joy? God says that His joy has more to do with the eternal than the temporary. Like salvation and heaven, they bring joy.
Do you think that Zacchaeus left that experience with loads of joy? You bet he did. The more he thought about it, the more his joy grew.
1 Peter 1:8 NASB
and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory,
Faith builds joy. So build your faith. Joy isn’t a temporary thing unless your joy is based on something not rooted in faith or God or eternity.
I shared on facebook a thought that won’t let go of my head and heart… our faith doesn’t begin to drift until after we disconnect from our community of faith.
Taking that a step further, I believe that real joy is also connected to faith and our community of faith. Spend time with people who fill your faith and fuel your joy. There is nothing like living life with joy when the world cannot give you anything that substitutes for it.
Psalm 43:4 NASB
Then I will go to the altar of God, To God my exceeding joy; And I will praise You on the lyre, God, my God.
David said he was going to the altar. That was a place where he would praise God. That was a place where his joy was fueled.
May we allow God to fuel our joy today for tomorrow and many more tomorrows to come.
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