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"Do Not Prepare Your Joy" |
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Written by Bruce Blagg
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Mar 07, 2007 at 12:00 AM |
I read a short quote the other day. "Seize from every moment its unique novelty, and do not prepare your joys." The whole quote is good, and also fairly typical. You know, SEIZE THE DAY and all. But the part that really impacted me was "do not prepare your joys." Cause this is exactly what we always do. We plan evenings out, times with friends, vacations, weekends off, going to movies, parties, and etc. And each one of these are planned with the idea that this is going to be a time of joy. There is nothing wrong with that in itself. But it occurs to me that when we define certain times to be times of joy, then we are automatically defining the rest of our time as being joyless. By preparing my times of joy, I may be missing out on the joys in the current moments. Have you ever looked forward to a time with such anticipation that the time leading up to it almost seemed to drag? Then you know what I am talking about. What if instead we experienced our joy in each moment as it happens?
Jesus said that our joy should "overflow". He talked about us having abundant joy. One of the qualities of our lives that demonstrates the work of the Holy Spirit in us is Joy. We are to be a "joy full" people. In other words, God didn't mean for us to just have joyful moments (especially those which we plan), but He wants us to live a joyful life. Webster defines the word joy as "the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune or by the prospect of possessing what one desires." While we may have sad or sorrowful moments, our attitude should always be one of joy. Our well-being rests in God's provision. Our success is defined by His Will, which always is fulfilled. Our good fortune is the Grace we live in, and the favor of God which hovers over us. Our prospect of possessing what we desire is defined in Heaven itself, our guaranteed reward. How can we not be a joyful people?
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Last Updated ( Jul 14, 2008 at 03:28 PM )
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