"LOVE BRINGS TRUE JOY"

"We. . . Rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconcillation

Roman 5:11

   Happiness, it is said, is a state of mind. Some days that state of mind is nowhere to be found. Observe the face of those who pass you on the sidewalk. Some look as if they had eaten ground glass for breakfast. Even at a funeral you won't see faces that long.

   Perhaps its' understandable. Our economic picture doesn't always promote happiness. Homeowners live under the burden of having to pay one bill after another. A river of depressing news threatens to drown us each day: the soaring crime rate child abuse, political scandal, illegal drugs, marital unfaithfulness, energy and environmental crises all add heavy weights to the strains under which we live. No wonder ours deserves to be dubbed the aspirin age.

   In times like these even christians are prone to depression, lired to seek relief in shadow, worldly cures. The final words of our lesson, however, are an invitation to find true joy in our God and his Word. Still, this joy is hard to feel. Why?

   When we sense that someone is holding something against us, we go on the defensive and are even tempted to become hostile. This is even more of our relationship with God. If things are not going well, if illness or fiinancial setbacks or other personal problem are threatening us, we are tempted to think that God is punishing us for our sins. But that is not the case with God's children. As Paul tells us, "God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. "God does not hold our sins against us anymore. So complete is our reconcilation in Christ that God feels nothing but the warmest love for us. He gives us his peace, the strength to rejoice even in trials, the secure hope of salvation.

   Only the knowledge of this love of God can quiet the Christian's heart when it is troubled. When a lake is deep, storms may ruffle the surface waters, but below all is calm. Life will test our spirit too, but if we immerse our thoughts in the depths of God's love, we will still rejoice, even when we must weep. "Though you have not seen Him, you love Him; and even though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation ofyour souls" 

(1Peter 1:8,9).