“These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.”
— John 15: 11
There’s happiness and then there’s joy, and there’s a distinct difference between the two. Joy is not happiness and happiness is not joy.
We’ve all heard of the “pursuit of happiness.” People must look for happiness.
They find it in people, things, and pleasure. People are happy as long as they are satisfied with their happenings.
But happiness is not a sign that we’re right with God. Happiness is a sign that we’re satisfied, and nothing more.
(Job 21: 7-15; Psalm 73) And we can be satisfied on a very low level.
Happiness can be lost. Certain people, things and pleasure cease bringing us happiness and we seek out other people, things and pleasures for our happiness. This describes the “pursuit of happiness.”
Joy is completely different from happiness. You don’t pursue joy. You either have it or you don’t.
Joy is something that belongs only to a child of God. The joy of the Christian is not something of themselves, but something that springs up from their new nature even in the worst of circumstances.
(John 15: 11; 16: 22, 24; Galatians 5: 22; James 1: 2; 1 Peter 1: 8; Hebrews 10: 34) Christians show this “joy of the Lord” when they are persecuted. The early Christians went joyfully to prison, to be torn by wild beasts, to be drowned, to be burned and beheaded, to have all their land and goods confiscated.
They took their persecution and martyrdom joyfully because they knew their living and dying glorified the Christ they served and loved so dearly.
(Colossians 1: 11) A Christian’s joy will be lost when they sin, for when they sin they lose fellowship with God. Their joy is restored when they repent of their sin (Psalm 51: 12) and return to walking in fellowship with God.
Jesus didn’t die on the cross to make us happy, He died to make us holy.
He died so that when we receive Him as our Savior we would receive His constant joy which is “unspeakable and full of glory.”
(1 Peter 1: 8) Happiness is the endless pursuit of the lost man. Joy is the eternal possession of the saved man.
Do you have this joy?
James H. Cagle is a Ray City resident who pastored several churches for a total of 11 years. Email him at pastorjameshcagle@ yahoo.com
