Is this what you’re living? Is your life filled with joy? Perhaps I should ask if you have defined what ‘joy filled’ means for you. For me, it would be defined in terms of fruitful, meaning, purposed… and then I would have to define those words. Is a joy filled life a choice? Does every situation have the potential to be positive or negative? What actually is ‘joy’?
According to www.biblestudytools.com there are a number of definitions related to the word joy:
“On the spiritual level it refers to the extreme happiness with which the believer contemplates salvation
and the bliss of the afterlife. Unexpected benefits from God are expressed in terms of common experiences.”
Does that help? My problem is that I believe that’s too narrow a definition. I believe joy is also a ‘here and now’. Let me share my example:
“His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’” (Matthew 25:23, ESV)
Granted this joy is in reference to the earthly ‘master’ commending the faithful servant. But I believe it can be translated into our joy because of our relationship with our Lord. “The Lord is my strength and my shield; in Him my heart trusts, and I am helped;” (Psalm 28:7, ESV) And you can see the relationship with trust and joy – they are inseparable. That defines ‘joy’ in my life.
Perhaps too fine a line but I believe joy is one step up from happiness. Yes, happiness is important and is part of joy. I believe that joy is more ethereal and deeper than happiness, which is more expressive. I suspect I would argue that happiness is the expression of joy.
The point in this discussion, however you define the words, is whether or not your life is marked by joy. Does joy fill your life. Is it a pillar on which to stand? And if joy doesn’t define your life… what does? Maybe the question should be… do you want a life that is joy filled, that identifies your days? And do you know how to attain and sustain this?
