Jesus Wants to Give You HIS JOY!

            Have you had your JOY JUICE today?  You can’t find any?  I promise, it’s NOT hiding!  Seek and you will find it!

            My first encounter with the word “seek” was as a little girl when I played “hide and seek” with my siblings, cousins or classmates.  One person would hide and the other would seek…”look for” the others.  The difference in my childhood understanding of “seek” and my perspective at this point in life is that I now know that the joy God intends for each of us is not purposely hidden!  He is not playing some game with us, trying to find a good “hiding place” so that joy is often out of our reach.  We don’t have to go through life blindfolded and guessing, “Now, where did He put that joy?”

            The simple truth is that His joy can be ours! In John 15:11 (NIV), Jesus said: “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.” HIS JOY is available to each of us. What we must “seek” is a relationship with HIM!  And HE is not hiding, either! Jesus so clearly teaches in Matthew 6:33 (KJV)  “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”

Do you remember the answer Jesus gave to the Pharisees when one of them asked, “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”  He didn’t hem-haw around.  He didn’t ponder for a second!  HE KNEW that answer: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” Matthew 22:37 (NIV).

Play “Hide and Seek” all you want to with you favorite children, but know that God is NOT hiding His JOY from you!