Being around joyful people tends to raise your spirits. Which makes me think about our Savior. It hit me the other night that He is full of joy, and that spending time with Him helps me find joy, too.
We’re used to thinking of Jesus as the “Man of Sorrows,” and certainly He was. But remember what Hebrews 12 says: looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. (v. 2).
His redemptive mission must have cast a shadow over every day of His earthly life. No wonder Isaiah says He was “acquainted with grief” (Isaiah 53:3). But what was the “joy set before Him?”
Yes, certainly His joy includes these things, and probably a thousand more.
Joy in returning to a place of fellowship and love within the Trinity?Joy at having completed His mission, completely purchasing the salvation of His people?Joy at the adulation of heaven, the glory that He alone deserves?
I’m glad my Savior is full of joy. This life is full of heartaches and hurts, but the One who loves us has overcome them all. “The joy of the Lord is your strength” is what Nehemiah told his grieving people (Nehemiah 8:10). I want to learn that, too.
I find joy in knowing that that my mom is not the only one who sings in the morning:
The LORD your God is in your midst,
a mighty one who will save;
he will rejoice over you with gladness;
he will quiet you by his love;
he will exult over you with loud singing.
(Zephaniah 3:17 ESV)
