Joy comes from knowing we are loved and treasured by the One who made us.
I have been writing about Advent for the past couple of weeks. The first candle in the Advent wreath represents hope. The second represents peace. The third candle, that we lit yesterday, represents joy. Joy is a tricky concept for us to understand in today’s world where it seems that instant gratification is on everyone’s menu.
We tend to gauge our lives by how we feel at this moment or by what is going on in our lives at this moment. And there’s our mistake, we judge our success, our peace, our hope, and our joy, on how we are feeling, not by what we know to be true eternally. What we know and what we feel are two very different ideas altogether.
One night a couple thousand years ago, there were shepherds who were tending their sheep. Shepherds were not very well thought of in those days. They had the same status as the homeless of today. They lived outside in the fields with the animals. They may have had a tent, but little else. They were nomadic and didn’t have true roots or a place to call home.
There they were; outcasts minding their own business, when, “An angel of the Lord appeared to them and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.” Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.” Luke 2:9-11
The angel told them the news was great joy for all people, not just a select few, not only the Jews, not only the wealthy people or the people with families and homes and jobs. The angel didn’t say the news was for one particular race or for one particular sex. The joyous news was for all people. God had sent a savior for all people.
This concept split time in half. This concept stood humanity on its head. The shepherds ran to see the newborn Savior and they told everyone they came into contact with, about what they had seen. They would have then returned to their fields. They had sheep who were counting on them. The news didn’t make them millionaires or get them better jobs. Society didn’t all of a sudden treat them any differently, but they had something better than society could ever offer them.
They had a personal message from God that they were treasured and that He cared enough about them that he sent a message to them personally. Not only that, He gave them the opportunity to visit the Christ child, the Messiah, and see him for themselves. I can’t imagine the joy they must have felt that night or for the rest of their days. I wonder in what ways it changed them. Surely, they were forever changed.
The joyous message of a savior being born to us is the same today as it was then. Nothing has changed except for the fact that we know the entire story. We know all about the death and resurrection. We know about the opportunity to spend eternity with God.
The fact is that our lives are filled with dark times. We have good seasons and bad seasons. We have times of happiness and sadness. But, joy is an entirely different matter. Joy is the permanent knowledge that we are loved and treasured and that God has a plan that ends with us with Him forever with “no more death or sorrow or crying or pain.” And that my friends, should give us joy, come what may.
Have an awesome day!
Wendy 🙂