Joy
Jesus said: “Suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Won’t she light a lamp and sweep the entire house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she will call in her friends and neighbours and say, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost coin.’” Luke 15:8-10
Almost everyone has a moving story of a time when they lost something very precious. For me, it is normally my keys, glasses or mobile phone and, most of the time, the search concludes successfully within a few anxious minutes.
I have never lost my wedding ring, but I have heard many heart-rending stories of people who have. The woman in this story has lost one of the ten silver coins that formed part of her headdress, given to her when she got married. There was no point telling her that she still had nine coins! Each and every coin was of huge sentimental value and losing one caused her great distress.
The pain of losing something precious is massive. Its gut wrenching and can dominate life. We struggle to settle to anything else. When the moment of discovery comes, the joy is overwhelming. It would be unthinkable to keep that joy to ourselves. Everyone needs to know about it!
Jesus says that’s exactly how it is in heaven when a sinner repents. When even one person turns to God, heaven has a party!
Joy is a big theme in the Bible. It is God’s response to everything coming together in its rightful place. When we live in step with God, the outcome is always joy. Sin is the opposite. It always spoils, tarnishes and destroys, leading to certain misery.
God’s supreme desire for us today is for us to share in his joy. We will do precisely that as we let his Spirit fill us and direct us.
QUESTION
What brings you most joy in life and in what way do you think that God shares in that joy?
PRAYER
Loving Father thank you for all the joy that you give me as I live in step with you day by day. Amen