12/14/24-12/20/24: ADVENT READINGS:

Read Isaiah 9:6-7; John 1:19-34; Ecclesiastes 3:1-8; Philippians 2:1-11.

Third Sunday of Advent – JOY

This may not be a big deal to you, but a couple of weeks ago, a Chick-fil-A opened up in the BJs shopping plaza on State Road 100, bringing lots of excitement to the Ness household. I love their breakfast, and my go-to is a chicken biscuit with egg and cheese. Let’s just assume I’ve already been through there a handful of times. For the Christmas season, Chick-fil-A is running a marketing promotion called “Share the Joy.” They are obviously wanting you to share the joy of a chicken sandwich, which I would argue is pretty joyful indeed. As Christians, I’m thankful that we get to share a different kind of joy this season, a real, true, lasting joy that can be found in Jesus. 

I read that Biblical joy is a blissful attitude God’s people adopt, not because of circumstances, but because of their hope in God’s love and promise. Many times, we think that being happy and being joyful are the same thing, while they do carry some similarities, they also have glaring differences. The source of happiness is typically our circumstances; when things are going well, we tend to increase in happiness. But when things go bad or we experience suffering or loss, we tend to lose happiness. The source of joy is not our circumstances; as Christians, our source of joy is Jesus. This is why the angel tells the shepherds, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy…” The source of joy was born in flesh that night! 

You see, joy is a choice to trust that God has a plan, it is better than yours, and that it is ultimately for your good. Those are easy words to type on a page, but extremely hard to live by. It reminds me of my relationship with my kids. My kids have lots of requests, things that they think (at 2, 3, & 4 years old) that would be very beneficial to them. Like having ice cream for breakfast. As their dad, I could sit down with them and try to explain why ice cream for breakfast is not a good idea, but because of their ages, they are unlikely to understand. So I just tell them no, and they run out of the kitchen crying and screaming. If they were to just trust that their dad knows what he is doing and has their best interests at heart, they would probably still be sad, since they did not get what they wanted, but they could have joy knowing that their dad loved them and would provide them with ice cream at an appropriate time. I can look back over my life and remember the times I did not get what I think I wanted and instead of choosing joy, I chose bitterness. 

Joy is about choosing to really believe that God loves you and that one day, no matter what is happening right now, you will be in His presence forever. This does not mean that you suppress your sadness, grief, etc. It means that in spite of how you feel and what you are experiencing, you can choose to be encouraged by God’s character and His promises to you. You can experience both sadness and joy. 

This Christmas, you and I have been given an awesome responsibility to share the joy with those around us. It does not matter if it seems nothing is going your way or if everything is going your way, let me encourage you to choose joy. Choose to really believe what God has promised you, choose to believe that God really does love you, choose to believe that God has a plan, which is better than yours, and that He is working that plan out, even if you do not see it or feel it. Choose to share Jesus with a lost world around you through your attitude in spite of your circumstances.

(written by Josh Ness) 

CONTINUE WITH WEEKLY READINGS AND DEVOTIONALS: