There’s only one way to joy.
Enjoying God: Part 1 (1)
The LORD reigns;
Let the earth rejoice… Psalm 97.1
“His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’” Matthew 25.23
Not amused
Toward the end of the last century Neil Postman published an important and even prophetic book entitled, Amusing Ourselves to Death. If you have not read it, you should.
Postman argued that Americans had become a people predominantly motivated by the quest for amusement—fun and games. We need to be entertained, and, Postman argued, a large and variegated industry designed to fill that need has taken over much of American life. TV, films and other forms of pop culture, sports and games—whenever Americans can break away from the drudgery of work, we look for an outlet to experience a little happiness. And the more we appeal to such happiness-pushers, the more ways they discovered to satisfy our habit.
And this was, for the most part, before the Internet, online gaming, apps for every imaginable diversion, mp3s, social media, and streaming videos.
Postman explained why this was a problem. To be concise: The quest for amusement and happiness is ruining our brains. We don’t seem to be able to think straight anymore. Fewer people are reading serious books, holding meaningful discussions about religion and life, or thinking very much beyond the next moment.
How many times have you seen a t-shirt or bumper sticker sporting the now-familiar albeit sardonic question: “Are we having fun yet?” The fact that we don’t see those as frequently as we used to suggests that, no, we’re not, and continuing to ask the question is just pointless.
Throughout the past generation, the quest for fun and happiness penetrated nearly every area of life, including the church. We consider that we’re wasting our time if we’re not injecting a healthy measure of fun into our activities. Even work should be fun, as “The Office” encouraged us to believe. Fun, fun, fun!
So, with all this hot pursuit of happiness and fun, why is it that so many of us are dour, angry, suspicious, petulant, hooked on dangerous drugs, cancelling all who disagree with us, unfriending former friends, and generally acting as if Daddy just took the T-Bird away?
It’s not just that fun is fleeting and happiness offers no guarantees. It is rather that, for human beings, these are the wrong ends. We’re not made for fun and games, not as our primary terminus ad quem. We are not intended always to be happy. And especially not when we reserve for ourselves the right to determine what happiness is. Such a misguided pursuit of happiness obscures the thing we’re really made for, the one possession that can bring complete satisfaction, unflagging hope, renewed spirit and purpose, astonishing creativity, sacrificial work and giving, and selfless love for others.
Joy.
Yes, but…
The mere mention of joy reminds me of an old Steve Martin schtick. He’d ask, “How can you become a millionaire?” To which he answered, “First, get a million dollars.”
Aye, there’s the rub. The way to know joy is to get some joy, right? Isn’t that what we’re trying to do? Only if you equate joy with happiness, which is a false equation.
But where do we go to get joy? And how can we know, if we’ve begun to experience it, that this is the real deal? How do we keep up our joy? Or is that even possible?
The Westminster Shorter Catechism offers a question of its own: “What is man’s chief end?” That is, what are we made for? Why are we here? What should we be doing to discover real meaning and purpose in life, to flourish as human beings? The Catechism answers: “Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.” We are made for joy, for true and lasting and wholly satisfying joy which can be known only in a relationship with the living God. Joy is Who God is, and it’s what He intends for us.
How do we know this?
God tells us, that’s how. His Word brings joy and rejoicing (Jer. 15.16). His Spirit births joy in our souls and overflows it through our lives to others (Gal. 5.22, 23; Jn. 7.37-39). His Kingdom—His rule of the cosmos and all unseen things—is a realm of joy (Rom. 14.17, 18). He sent angels at the birth of Jesus to proclaim His joy to the world (Lk. 2.10, 11). The words joy and its cognates (joyful, rejoice, rejoicing) appear hundreds of times throughout the Bible, in every section.
God wants us to know joy! And we can only experience joy by knowing Him.
Ours to enjoy
Like the master in Jesus’ parable of the talents, God invites us to enter His joy, abide in His joy, and flourish in His joy, regardless of our condition or the circumstances of our lives. And when we know the joy of the Lord and are enjoying Him as He intends, we won’t really care whether we’re having fun yet.
Joy is that special, that satisfying. And to enjoy God, to be in a relationship with Him where we know His joy with increasing measure and frequency, is not something just for a few. It is the end-game God intends for all who know Him, and it pleases Him to grant us, here and now, foretastes of joy, soul-quenching draughts of it, so that we will seek Him all the more, that we might know more of what He has in store for us.
Where the LORD reigns, there is joy. Joy describes the consequence of heeding God’s invitation to enter the Kingdom of God. How we can know and enjoy Him should be the primary concern and driving force of our lives. For if it is, it will never disappoint.
Search the Scriptures
1. Look at Romans 14.17, 18. What character, disposition, and attitudes should mark those who have accepted God’s invitation to His joy?
2. Read Galatians 5.22, 23. Why do you suppose joy is listed second in the fruit of the Holy Spirit?
3. How would you explain joy to a friend who does not know the Lord? To which Scriptures would you turn?
Next steps—Preparation: When have you known the joy of the Lord? What was that like? Would you like to know that joy more consistently?
T. M. Moore
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).
How should joy affect our lives as Christians? Our booklet, Joy to Your World!, can show you how both to know more of the Lord’s joy and to invite others into it as well. Order your copy by clicking here.
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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
