Deuteronomy
10:12-13:
12 “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but
to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him,
to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your
soul, 13 and to keep the commandments of the Lord and His statutes
which I command you today for your good?
Atheists
so often have the idea that God's commandments are meant to make us
gloomy or bored or sad. Some think they are there so God feels good,
or so that He gets pleasure out of seeing us obey His will. Well,
they're not meant to make us gloomy or bored or sad. They are meant
to do the opposite. They are for our good, to make us joyful. In
fact, our whole life is to be joyful.
Our
coming to faith is the first instance of being joyful in the law.
Jesus describes how in Matthew 13:44: “The kingdom of heaven is
like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for
joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.”
When we come to faith we replace the mud-puddle joys of this world
with the holiday-of-a-lifetime happiness of God's law.1
Our
serving God should be done with joy too. Psalm 100:2: “Serve the
Lord with gladness; Come before His presence with singing.” God
wants us to be happy when we serve Him. He doesn't want us to be sad
or despondent when we serve.
God
also commands us to be joyful when we give. 2 Corinthians 9:7: “So
let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of
necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.” God wants us to be
happy when we give. He doesn't want us to be sad or despondent when
we give. He wants us to rejoice.
What
about suffering? Matthew 5:11-12: “Blessed are you when they revile
and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for
My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in
heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
We can be joyful in affliction too. We can be joyful of our promised
reward. That cancels out any sorrow we experience on this earth. Even
in trouble and suffering, God's command is joy.
The
loss of a loved one can bring grief. But it's not all sorrow. There's
hope too. 1 Thessalonians 4:13: “But I do not want you to be
ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you
sorrow as others who have no hope.” Yes, there is grief in the life
of a Christian. But not without hope.
God's
will for us is joy. In our coming to faith, in our serving Him, in
our giving, in our loss, in our trouble, His command is joy. “Rejoice
in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!” (Philippians 4:4).
The
whole goal of our existence is joy. We will receive joy at the end of
our existence too. Eternal joy. Isaiah 35:10:
“And the ransomed of the Lord shall return,
And come to Zion with singing,
With everlasting joy on their heads.
They shall obtain joy and gladness,
And sorrow and sighing shall flee away.”
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