April 13, 2021

Apr 13, 2021    Jim Osmond

Psalm 16:11 (NKJV) You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
There is just something about Easter. Is it the aroma of many lilies that fills the church? Could it be the feeling that birds chirp a little louder, the grass betraying a new shade of green or that trees adorned in the flowers of spring seem to give more significance to the day? Might it be the bonnets, that new dress or the suit that gets pulled out of the closet once a year? In short, what is it that brings an air of celebration among those in the church as if the verse, “I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go to the house of the LORD!” (Psalm 122:1) is elevated in meaning and emotion? What is it that fills the hearts of the believer on this particular day? Might I suggest JOY, fullness of Joy, as it says in Psalm 16:11, “You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”
C. S. Lewis writes in “Surprised by Joy” that “All Joy reminds. It is never a possession, always a desire for something longer ago or further away or still ‘about to be’.” For the Christian, we have Joy in what Christ has done for us, Joy in His soon return, and Joy of heaven waiting. It is what drives us to say as C. S. Lewis shares in “The Last Battle” (Chronicles of Narnia), “I have come home at last! This is my real country! I belong here. This is the land I have been looking for all my life, though I never knew it till now…Come further up, come further in!” Yes, come further up and further in with all fullness of Joy. As Jesus says in John 15:11, “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.”
Joy is the secret custody of the Christian. It cannot be manufactured by any earthly means, but rather experienced only in the presence of God and provided by Him; upheld by Hope and shared in Faith. There is a special Joy about Easter. Something to think about. Something to hold onto.
Romans 15:13 Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.