Day 43 - The joy of knowing Jesus

Come, true light!

Come, eternal life!

Come, light that knows no evening.

Come, true and fervent expectation of the saved!

Come, resurrection of the dead!

Come, eternal joy!

(attributed to St Simeon the New Theologian 949-1022)

At this time of year, a lot of JOY is all around – or is it? I looked up various places in the Bible which mention JOY and on several occasions it is linked to celebrating. I have heard people say: ‘I won’t be celebrating this year’ or ‘I don’t celebrate Christmas, there’s no point’. Some of these people say they have no family to celebrate with; others feel they have nothing to celebrate.

I have also heard people who are not Christian say they are looking forward to celebrating on December 25th. It seems that the joy of the season has become secularised and thus offers nothing. Where is the joy?

The joy that we find in the Bible is a deep and lasting sense of happiness/contentment coming as a gift from God, a fruit of the Spirit. (Galatians 5:22-23a NIV) - the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. This joy is within us even in times of suffering or apparent hopelessness.

So, a fitting Bible study for today would be about evangelism – getting the message across that the God of Christian believers is not packed away with the Christmas decorations but surrounds and sustains us all year long.

The authorship of 1 Peter is still being debated but whoever wrote it was inspired by God:

‘Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble. Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. For, “Whoever would love life and see good days must keep their tongue from evil and their lips from deceitful speech. They must turn from evil and do good; they must seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.” (Quoting from Psalm 34) In your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect…”.

(1 Peter 3:8-12, 15 NIV)

I do not need to unpack this section of the epistle. The words are clear and relevant to this season. We need to experience the joy of knowing Jesus, loving him and, because of what he has done in our lives, to spread the Gospel. We do not need to know our Bibles inside out, we do not need to consider ourselves as prayer warriors (although that would help!) but we DO need to share the JOY, the true joy of Christmas. Let us accept the challenge set before us in this Bible passage!

Elaine Kinchin