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The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God – children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

John 1:9-14

Christ For Us

I can do it myself! We’ve all heard children adamantly state these words as they strive for independence. Most of the time, we encourage such independence and growth, but not always. Some things a young child is not ready to do on their own, such as crossing the street, lighting birthday candles, or staying home alone. It can end in disaster.

It does end in disaster when this attitude permeates our spiritual life. We think, “I don’t need help; I can do it on my own.” John was an eyewitness of this happening during Jesus’ ministry. He saw Jesus’ own people reject him and his message. Jesus wasn’t the savior they were expecting. They knew the laws given in the Old Testament and thought that they obeyed those laws. They thought that they could do it on their own and would have salvation without Jesus. Except, they didn’t.

And neither do we. As hard as we try, we do not lead the holy life God demands. Sin is such a part of each of us that we can’t even begin to earn our salvation. On our own, we would constantly be unsure. Did I do enough? Am I at least better than that person? Maybe if I just do a little more? We know the answers to these questions. I am not good enough. I cannot do it on my own. I need help.

And so, “the Word became flesh.” The true light came into the world to give his light to all. Jesus was born to live in this world and do what we cannot. He fulfilled the law perfectly and then credited that perfectness to us. Christ for us.

Now we are children of God. Through faith that the Holy Spirit put in our hearts, we have the rights of being in God’s family. We have the Father who cares for our earthly needs, providing food and shelter, protection, and love. The Father loved us so much he even gave his Son for us. In Jesus, we have a brother who never sinned and who loves us imperfect sinners. Jesus is our brother who substituted his life for ours so that we might receive his holiness. Jesus is our brother who conquered death securing our victory over death. Christ for us.

John exclaimed that “we have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” Through the eyes of faith, we see Jesus’ glory. We see it now as we read and learn and believe in the undeserved love Jesus shows us each day. We will see his glory when we are face to face with our Savior in heaven. Hold onto this truth: Christ for us.

Prayer:

Dear Jesus, you are the light of the world! Help me always remember how much I need you. Keep me strong in the faith as I await the day I will see you face to face. Amen.

A Hymn to Ponder:

Read through and ponder the words in the hymn In Christ Alone (Christian Worship 510).

Listen to Devotion

Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?”

Hebrew 13:5-6

Contentment

Have you ever asked your students to make a list of things that they need and things that they want? Usually, you’ll get the sweet answers like they need their mommy or they need their stuffy, but every now and then a child will shout, “I need my XBOX!” Of course, we try to redirect that child and ask if they really need that to survive. You might get a chuckle when they double down and say, “Yes.”

What are some things that you would say you need? Maybe in your professional life, you would say your planner, or office supplies, or even a co-worker. In your personal life you might say coffee or downtime or your phone.

Nowadays our lists of wants and needs can sound as muddled as our students.

In our reading for today, we are reminded to “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’ So we say, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?’” Hebrews 13:5-6

Odds are you didn’t get into teaching for the money. While basketball players make millions, and lawyers and doctors have paychecks to boast about, you, teaching the littlest of littles their A,B,C’s and 1,2,3’s often use part of your paycheck to pay for needs and wants in your own classroom.

Through it all, the Lord provides.

The devil tries to mess with us when we compare ours with theirs. Our classroom against their classroom. Our budget against their budget. Our playground against their playground. Discontentment can creep in and we can forget the words read from today’s Scripture, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”

Drown out the lies of the devil by looking around you and seeing the blessings that he has so faithfully bestowed upon you. All of those outlet covers are because you have electricity. Praise God!

It might almost feel annoying to be grateful. Sometimes it feels better to just stay in the discontentment. Practice gratitude anyway. That’s the best way to combat the lies.

We all have wants and needs. Often, more than not, both are met abundantly. God knows what you really need. It’s Him. Find so much contentment in that, dear friends. He is all we need.

Prayer:

Dear Jesus, you provide our daily needs and for that we are so thankful. Forgive us when we become entitled and forget that what you provide is enough. Help us to live a life of gratitude for all of your blessings. Amen.

A Question to Consider:

Have you felt discontent lately? What are the blessings all around you right now? Pray for the Lord to help you find contentment in what He’s blessed you with.

Listen to Devotion

Then Jesus told them this parable, “Suppose one of you had a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.”

Luke 15:3-7

Even One

Are you a numbers person? Maybe you love hearing how many people were in church last Sunday or maybe you enjoy being able to tell your faculty and staff how many people attended an event that you held at your school. Sometimes numbers can be an encouragement and sometimes they can bring us down. They can make us feel successful or like a failure.

Jesus cared about numbers, too. While, of course, He cares about every single person on this earth, He also made it known that He cares about a very low number as well. He cares about the number one.

In our reading for today, Jesus has an important message to share, Then Jesus told them this parable: “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.” Luke 15:3-7

There is a next level joy that comes with even one lost sheep being found.

While it might be tricky not to focus on the number of students and their families sitting in the pew, the one student that hears the Gospel for the first time or the one family member of your student that hears about grace and it washes over them like rain…praise God. While we struggle to think that it all depends on us, let us remember that we are mere instruments of the Lord. Let us be humbled and do our work faithfully and then let us joyfully watch what the Lord does through us.

What an honor and privilege it is to teach the Word of God to His littlest lambs. You might never see the fruits of your labor, but the Lord sees it and is doing things that we can’t even imagine.
Give your numbers to Him with full confidence that He is pleased and overjoyed with even one.

Prayer:

Perfect Shepherd, thank you for running after us. Thank you for being a perfect example of what is looks like to care so deeply about those who don’t know or love you yet. Help us push away the focus we put on the numbers and rather focus on the souls you have entrusted to our care. Thank you for the privilege it is to serve you in this way. Amen.

A Question to Consider:

Who is someone in your everyday life that you see the Lord working on? Praise God for His Word. It works!

Listen to Devotion

For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.

Luke 14:11

Pride in Him

Back in 2024, an athlete in the European Athletic Championship Race Walking 20K Final gave the world a lesson in humility.

With only six feet left to go in the race, she started celebrating her third-place finish. While she was busy celebrating, another, more focused, race walker overtook her in those last six feet and secured the bronze medal.

The videos of this occurrence are gut-wrenching to watch. It is hard not to feel the embarrassment that the race walker must have been feeling. In a post-race interview she said that “she would learn from the unfortunate turn of events and come back stronger as a result.”

In our Bible reading today, Luke writes, “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” Luke 14:11

Jesus is speaking to the Pharisee’s during this portion of Scripture. While they are so quick to celebrate their “supreme goodness”, the Lord shows them what true humility looks like. While they were busy celebrating their moral “victories” they failed to realize that they were actually losing the race.

We, too, are like the Pharisees. So often we find pride in our own successes. We forget that while we have maybe not fallen as far as some, we have all fallen.

What a blessing that our shortcomings aren’t on the world stage. How embarrassing it would be if everyone could click on a link and see our “less than humble” actions play out in our lives.

Praise God for his forgiveness and mercy. When we fail, He’s there. Where we fall short, He is there to carry us through. When we feel the sting of humility, let go of the pride and learn the lesson that He is trying to teach.

Ministry is full of humble moments. When our students teach us how to be effortlessly forgiving. When they trust with a childlike faith. When a parent forgives us for speaking out of line or an employee spurs us on by encouraging a better attitude in the classroom.

So often in ministry we are constantly putting others first. Jesus was the perfect example of this. He was the ultimate victor and yet, He washed the feet of those around Him. While he had every right to stand with a proud chest, He allowed to be stripped of all glory and hang on a cross for the world to see. Praise God for what the world thought was defeat, was actually a victory that we can joyfully call our own.

Pride in Jesus, friends. Lower ourselves and exalt His holy name. He is worthy. We have victory through Him! Thank you, Jesus!

Prayer:

Dear Jesus, let us always exalt your Holy Name! You, alone, are to be glorified and praised. Forgive us when we lift ourselves up and fall into the temptation of needing praise. Help us to work faithfully for you so that others may come to know your name and lift it high. Amen.

A Question to Consider:

In what areas in your life could you use some humility? Ask the Lord to help you with this.

Listen to Devotion

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.
Hebrews 12:1-2

Wounds that Heal: God’s Word Divides

Have you ever tried to run while carrying a heavy backpack? At first, you think maybe you can manage. But the longer you go, the more it weighs you down. Eventually, it gets hard to even put one foot in front of the other.

Sin is like that. We often carry it without realizing how much it slows us down – until God’s Word stops us in our tracks.

Hebrews 12 pictures the Christian life as a race. But it’s not a sprint. It’s a lifelong journey. And along the way, we’re called to “throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles.” That’s not always easy to do because if we face the facts, we kind of like our sin. Our sinful nature would love to cling onto the gossip, the mindless worrying, the “me first” attitude, the greed, whatever it might be. But God’s Word is not just for comfort; it’s for showing us our sin too. It divides truth from lies, pride from humility, & sin from grace.

That’s the wound. It cuts deep. It shows us where we’ve fallen short. It shows us when we’ve served out of obligation instead of love, when we’ve relied on our own strength instead of Christ, when we’ve let fear or comparison cloud our joy.

Give thanks today that God’s Word doesn’t just leave us wounded. It heals. It points us back to Jesus, the one who started the race and the one who finished it. He ran the perfect race, carrying not his own sin, but ours. He was crushed under the weight of our guilt, so that we never have to carry it again. Jesus didn’t come to burden us. He came to set us free. And now because of him, we can run with perseverance, not perfectly, not always gracefully – but always with our eyes fixed on him.

In your ministry, in your struggles, in your daily race – look to Jesus. Let his Word do its work. Let it cut away what holds you back and bind you up in his perfect love.

Prayer:

Jesus, thank You for running the race in my place. Forgive me when I cling to my sin or carry sins and burdens that you already bore. Use your Word to correct and comfort me. Help me run freely and faithfully, always looking to you. Amen.

A Question to Consider:

How can you let God’s Word both challenge and comfort you this week as you serve in ministry?

Listen to Devotion

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.
Colossians 3:1-2

Undivided Attention: On Useful Resources

Early childhood ministry is full of resources. There are lesson plans, story Bibles, puppets, snacks, songs, and stickers. All of them are useful. All of them help the classroom run smoothly. But none of them can replace the most important thing: your heart and mind, set on Christ.

Colossians 3 reminds us where to begin: “Set your hearts on things above… set your minds on things above.” God isn’t telling us to throw away all our earthly tools. He’s reminding us to keep first things first. Jesus—his love, his grace, his Word—is the one resource that never runs dry, the one thing you’ll never need to add to the school supply list.

It’s easy to get distracted. There’s always more to plan, more to do, more to fix. But when our attention is divided, ministry becomes a checklist instead of a calling. We forget why we started. We forget who we serve.

And sometimes, we fall short. We try to do it all on our own. We depend more on the tools than on the Savior. That’s sin – when our hearts wander from God. But Colossians begins with this beautiful promise: “You have been raised with Christ.” That is the gospel. Jesus didn’t just forgive you; he gave you new life. Your identity isn’t in how perfectly you serve, but in how perfectly he saves.

So today, use the resources God gives. Use them joyfully. Use them wisely. But don’t let them distract you from the source. Keep your heart anchored in Jesus. Keep your mind focused on his love, his mission, and his truth.

Because when your attention is fixed on Jesus, everything else finds its place.

Prayer:

Jesus, thank you for giving me new life. Forgive me for the times I let tools and tasks take my eyes off you. Help me keep my heart and mind focused on what really matters – your grace and truth. Bless the resources I use in ministry, but help me rely on you above all. Amen.

A Question to Consider:

What is one way you can keep your heart and mind focused on Jesus this week, even in the middle of busy ministry moments?

Listen to Devotion

“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed – or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”
Luke 10:41-42

Keep Your Focus on the Best Thing

What does your current to-do list look like? Prepare lesson or block plans for the year. Organize classroom materials. Respond to parent emails. Plan for building classroom community and school culture. Meet with coworkers. Prepare student assessments. Schedule a doctor’s appointment. Play with your kids. Visit your relatives. Whatever the specifics, there are probably many things calling for your time and attention.

The Bible tells us about a time Jesus visited the house of two sisters, Martha and Mary. In trying to ensure everything was ready for Jesus, Martha, too, had much on her to-do list and much on her mind. Meanwhile, her sister, Mary, was sitting and listening at Jesus’ feet. At one point, this led Martha to approach Jesus, asking him to get Mary to help her. We hear Jesus’ response in our reading for today, “Martha … you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed – or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better.”

Martha’s desire to serve, to show hospitality, to work hard was not wrong. However, Jesus was helping her – and us – see that no amount of service can replace our need for time with God and his Word. Jesus didn’t say Martha was doing the wrong thing and Mary was doing the right thing; he said Mary was doing the better thing. The best and most important thing is our relationship with Jesus; everything else – our ability to serve, our willingness to love, our stamina to tackle the busyness – flows from that.
There will always be things – many of them good – fighting for your attention, but as you work through them, hear Jesus speaking to you. “(Fill in your name) … you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed – or indeed only one – me.” Jesus gave his life for you so that you could have a relationship with him. He loves you and he is the one thing you need above all else.

In a world that glorifies “busy,” let’s encourage each other to rest in Jesus, to build a relationship with him. Yes, we will have days full of many tasks to faithfully care for and teach the students entrusted to us. Yes, we are called to serve our families and our communities. But also yes, we need Jesus every day and every hour. Our coworkers need Jesus. Our students need Jesus. Our world needs Jesus. Make time to sit like Mary and soak in the words of God and then, let that Word equip you for the other things on your list.

Prayer:

Dear Jesus, forgive us for the times we let things other than you become priority in our lives. Thank you for coming to us in your Word and drawing us closer to you. As we face busy days and long to-do lists, help us keep our focus on you, the only place we can find true peace and joy. Bless the time we have to study your Word with our students and increase our love for you – the one thing needful. Amen.

A Question to Consider:

Can you relate to Martha’s divided or distracted focus on many things? What’s one way you can refocus on Jesus as the one thing needful (the best thing) and spend a few minutes listening to his Word this week?

Listen to Devotion

[Jesus] told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves.”
Luke 10:2-3

There’s Work to Do!

Do the students in your classroom have any assigned jobs during the week – maybe holding the door, turning off the light, ensuring the library books are put away neatly, or helping sharpen pencils? Or maybe students sometimes help you deliver a message to another classmate or a neighboring teacher. Young children often take these tasks seriously; they are excited to help. It’s a big deal to be the helper or the messenger!

In our Bible reading for today, we hear Jesus assigning some important jobs. He tells us that there are many in the world who need to know about God’s love for them – “the harvest is plentiful” – but the people to proclaim or share that message – “the workers” – are few. In some cases, God, through his church, calls people into full-time ministry, like your pastor, who focuses on proclaiming the gospel as his job. We want to pray for and support these people in the work they do to share Jesus, and we also want to pray for God – “the Lord of the harvest” – to provide more people to fill these roles.

God also uses each of us, his children, to show and share his love with those around us. Before we can share this gospel message with others, though, we first need to know and recognize that God’s message of forgiveness and peace is for us. We, too, are in need of Jesus because of our sin – those thoughts, words, and actions, that separate us from God and the way he tells us to live. It is only through God’s work in and for us that our sins are forgiven and that we can live in joy and contentment knowing we have a heavenly home to look forward to.

Then, we go and proclaim God’s Word to those in our “harvest field” – our families, our neighbors, our students. In the classroom, that may look like reminding your students Jesus loves them, praying with your students when they are thankful, upset, or afraid, modeling how to forgive someone who hurts us, or singing songs of praise for what God has done. It happens in big ways as we teach Bible lessons and worship in chapel services, but it also happens in small moments with individual students as we marvel at God’s creation at recess or answer one of the many questions children ask about God and what he is like.

And as we live out and proclaim God’s love to our families, students, and communities, we don’t do it alone. God promises to always be with us, to strengthen and equip us for this job he has given us.

Young children cannot keep quiet about the awesome things they hear and see; they want to tell someone! Let’s be like that. Let’s pray for God to use us, to use his pastors, and to use our students as they go out into their communities to share God’s incredible love and amazing grace for us in Jesus. There’s work to do, and it’s a big deal!

Prayer:

Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for sharing the message of your love and forgiveness with us and using us to help share that gospel message with others. Please provide more workers to proclaim this life-saving truth wherever it is needed around the world. Continue to strengthen our faith and work in the hearts of our students that they, too, may know and cling to your love for them – and maybe one day become pastors and teachers who share your Word with others. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

A Question to Consider:

How can you pray for and support your pastor and those you know who are called into gospel ministry or who can you encourage to consider serving in this way with the gifts God has given them?
 

Listen to Devotion

All the nations gather together and the peoples assemble. Which of their gods foretold this and proclaimed to us the former things? Let them bring in their witnesses to prove they were right, so that others may hear and say, ‘It is true.’
“You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me.
Isaiah 43:9–10

Undivided Attention: On the Mission Right Before Us

Are there days you simply feel like you’re just a referee in a room of four-year-olds? Settling arguments, picking up crayons, wiping noses, tying shoes…and then doing it all over again. You hear about “big” mission work happening overseas and wonder: Am I really doing something that matters?

Worse, you get distracted. You lose sight of why you’re here. You focus more on fixing behavior than feeding souls. You speak more about classroom rules than about Jesus. You worry more about pleasing parents than giving them the Gospel too.

Here’s the Law: we often fail to witness for Christ. We’ve let the mission drift to the background. We’ve gotten lazy, distracted, or simply tired. We’ve acted like the work before us doesn’t count – like God needs something flashier or farther away to be meaningful. That’s sin. It’s forgetting who we are and who we serve.

But listen again to what our God says:
“You are my witnesses… my servant whom I have chosen.”

Not “you might be” or “you should be,” but “you are.” By grace, through faith in Jesus, you have been chosen. Chosen, not because you are perfect, but because your Savior is. He lived, died, and rose again for you. He called you his own. And now he sends you, maybe not across the globe, but across the room – to the mission field of little faces and young families right in front of you.

That’s the beauty and the majesty of our calling – of our mission: every story time, every conversation over snack, each chat at pick-up time is an opportunity to reflect Jesus. You are his chosen witness!

God doesn’t ask you to be everywhere. He asks you to be faithful where he’s placed you. To give undivided attention to your mission, with a full heart, and with the Spirit’s help. God grant it!

Prayer:

Lord of the mission, forgive me for the times I lose sight of the mission you’ve given me. Thank you for choosing me by grace to be your witness. Give me the focus, joy, and love I need to serve all those you put in front of me today. May I always see the mission field as ripe, and may I reflect your love daily! Amen.

Christian Worship 21 744: 1, 3, 4 Rise, Shine, You People

Listen to Devotion

“All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”

John 14:25–27

Christ Sends Us His Spirit

I wake up every day with the intention to orchestrate peace in my household filled with three little girls, one goldendoodle puppy, and one working husband. I try to set the tone with gentle voices, clear routines, and a prayer whispered over breakfast. But some mornings, peace feels like a lost cause before we even leave the breakfast table.

Maybe you step into the classroom – ready to share Jesus, to offer structure and safety, to love each child well. But again, there are the tantrums, the noise, the unexpected needs. You try to stay calm, to keep your cool. You try to be peace.

But how often do we end the day asking: Did I do enough? Was I patient enough? Did I reflect Christ at all today?

The truth is, we want to be in control. We want to fix things, smooth things over, make everything okay. But we can’t. And that leaves us feeling anxious and exhausted.

That’s the Law, isn’t it? It shows us we’re not enough. It shows us our pride, our impatience, our need to be our own Savior. The Law reminds us that the peace we’re trying to create on our own terms won’t last – not in our homes, not in our classrooms, not in our hearts.

But Jesus offers something different. Something better.

On the night before his death, Jesus looked into the fearful eyes of his disciples and gave them a promise: “The Advocate, the Holy Spirit… will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.”

Because Jesus lives, that promise is for me, and for you, today.

The Holy Spirit has been sent. He lives in you, not because you’ve earned him, but because Jesus died and rose… for you. The Spirit is your Helper, your Comforter, your reminder of the truth: You are loved; You are forgiven; You are never alone.

Jesus’ peace doesn’t depend on how well the morning goes or how smoothly the lesson runs. It flows from the cross. It’s sealed by the empty tomb. The world gives fragile, fleeting peace. Jesus gives peace that holds – peace for the anxious mom, the tired teacher, the child of God.
Because Jesus lives, his Spirit lives in you! And that’s more than enough.

Prayer:

Jesus, thank you for your peace. Thank you for sending the Holy Spirit to be with me every moment. Forgive me for the times I try to find peace in my own strength. When I feel overwhelmed, remind me of your promises. Fill my heart with your Spirit and let your peace guide me through each day. Amen.

Holy Spirit, light divine, shine upon this heart of mine;
chase the gloom of night away, turn the darkness into day.

Holy Spirit, love divine, cleanse this guilty heart of mine;
in your mercy pity me, from sin’s bondage set me free.

Holy Spirit, joy divine, cheer this saddened heart of mine;
fill me with your heavenly peace, let it grow and still increase.
Christian Worship 21 593:1-3

Listen to Devotion

Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy. In that day you will no longer ask me anything. Very truly I tell you, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.
John 16:22-24

Lasting Joy

The world-famous life coach and cleaning consultant, Marie Kondo, has sold millions of books on “the art of decluttering”. Her Japanese approach to cleaning includes removing every piece in the home that, when picked up and examined, “doesn’t spark joy”. While this could be an effective approach to removing unnecessary clutter from the home, it has some pitfalls. What if I pick something up on a day that I am tired, annoyed, or in a sour mood? What if nothing in my house brings me joy on that particular day? And what IS true joy?

The world wants to teach us that joy depends on our circumstance. If we are doing well financially, if we have friends, if we reach our goals and milestones, we have what the world sees as “joy”. But this can change! If the furnace goes out and we have a sudden bill, we lose joy. If our friend hurts our feelings or leaves us stranded, joy is lost. If we put in a great effort at work and don’t get the recognition, we lose joy.

But the joy that God gives us does not come from a worldly situation or moment. It comes from Jesus! Jesus knew all along that he would someday die on the cross. He used his time on earth to train the disciples and continues to teach us through his life and in his Word, the Bible. He knew that the disciples would suffer for the sake of telling others about him. Jesus knew that they would feel sorrow of the world, but also knew that their suffering would one day be turned to joy in heaven.

Jesus knows about our trials on earth, too. He knows that living for him is not easy. He knows that we fail to do the good he wants us to do. He knows that we need him in every way, just as the disciples did. But, just like the disciples, our suffering will also be turned into joy. This joy is not of this world, it is not the “joy spark” that you feel when holding an earthly treasure or hugging a loved one—it is true, lasting joy that only comes from the story of Easter, when Jesus came back to life. Jesus promises that this lasting joy will be with us every time that we remember we are saved by his love, and will remain with us until he brings us to our forever home of joy in heaven.

Prayer:

When all your mercies, O my God, my waking soul surveys,
Transported with the view, I’m lost in wonder, love and praise.
Through all eternity to you a joyful song I’ll raise,
But, oh, eternity’s too short to utter all your praise. Amen.
Christian Worship 21 604:1, 4