“I will be glad and rejoice in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.”
"Glad" is a good word. It means "to express pleasure, to cause pleasure or to be pleased." (American Century Dictionary) This should describe the life of a Christian. I will relate something from my life to share my own gladness. I am glad that my mama made me go to church - literally. I was not always glad about that. I didn’t realize that while I was wishing that I could be at home instead of at church, it was making an impact on my life and impressing me in ways that I could never explain. At a young age, I was not aware of the value of Christian fellowship. I just called it “going to church.” As I reflect on those days, I see how being in church on Sunday influenced me and served as a reminder that real life is found in Jesus. (I guess I should tell you that one of my nick names at church in my early years was "worry wart." Hey, nobody's perfect.) In fact those early years in church helped me to know when I got older that God was calling me into the ministry, and I’m glad for that too. My life has been enriched because of Christian ministry in so many different ways, I don’t think that I could fully explain it? Enough about me, let’s turn to you. What makes you glad? Are you glad that you are a Christian? If you are not a Christian, you are missing out on the abundant life. Sometimes we see people who live only for the world seeming to really enjoy themselves and we feel a little envious. This business of being a Christian does not allow us to have “fun” the way the rest of the world does. This kind of “fun” does not last forever. There are people who go from party to party and just live it up. But all of this will end. There will be a last party, a last shot at fun, and life will become empty and void. This does not mean that we spend every moment of our lives doing “church work.” It means that we have a lasting relationship with Christ, and serving him adds depth and strength to our lives. If I’m not careful here, I will leave the impression that I do not believe that life should contain humor and fun. I do not mean that at all. I believe that we should laugh a lot, and that we should not be “holy kill joys.” Having Christ in our lives makes our days glad. Do you remember this old song: “He has made me glad, He has made glad, I’m so glad that He has made me glad.” I hope that you can sing this song and really mean it. I haven’t even scratched the surface of Christian gladness, but I think that I have written enough to make you examine your own life. If you are not a glad person, you need to ask yourself why, particularly if you are a Christian. I don’t mean that a glad person is happy all of the time. I do mean that a glad Christian has every reason to have a glad heart and to live a glad life. This glad heart will make life better in spite of the unhappy and trying moments. A glad heart will sustain you through all of life – the good and the bad. If you don’t have this gladness in your heart and life, I challenge you to find it in Jesus. Bro. Joe
0 Comments
Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
All
Archives
September 2021
|