Jesus, Our Eternal Joy

A couple of weeks ago I was standing in line at the customer service counter at Kohl’s.  There were several people in front of me, so I decided to look up my order number on my phone to have it ready when my turn at the counter came.  As I was scrolling through my email, I began to notice a commotion occurring at the front of the line.  A woman was trying to return some “World’s Greatest Grandma” hand towels and apparently things were not going well.  Her arms began to flail and the volume of her voice began to increase at an alarming rate.  As the customer service rep calmly explained the return policy and began processing the return, this woman slouched on the counter, buried her forehead in her hand and began to dramatically (and repeatedly) sigh.  One thing was abundantly clear.  She was not happy.

The word “blessed” is repeated nine times in the introductory section of the Sermon on the Mount known as the Beatitudes.  The root word in the Greek is “makarios,” which means happy or blissful.  This is the kind of happiness that is impervious to the randomness of life.  The last line of verse one in “Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus” describes Jesus as the “joy of every longing heart.”  To be blessed is to experience steadfast joy – Jesus – in your heart.

Jesus said in John 15:10-11, “If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments, and abide in His love.  These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.” (emphasis mine)  The kind of joy that Jesus offers has nothing to do with circumstances, and everything to do with abiding in Him.  When we accept Him as our Savior, we are indwelt with the Holy Spirit.  His love is complete and we can rest in this joy because we know it is secure and will last forever.  John 10: 27-28 says, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they shall never perish and no one shall snatch them out of My hand.”  

When we truly begin to understand this magnificent truth and internalize it into our minds and hearts, it begins to be a little easier to understand how to “consider it all joy” when we encounter various trials.  Trials are part of the sanctification process.  James 1:5 says, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all men generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.”  In John 16:23-24, Jesus says, “…Truly, truly, I say to you, if you shall ask the Father for anything, He will give it to you in My name.  Until now you have asked for nothing in My name; ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be made full.”  Joy is a fruit of the Spirit.  John 15:16 says, "You did not choose Me, but I chose you, that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask of the Father in My name, He may give to you."  

One of the best descriptions I’ve seen about this kind of joy is, “Human happiness is something that is dependent on the chances and changes of life, something which life may give and which life may also destroy.  The Christian blessedness is completely untouchable and an assailable.” (William Barclay)  

To be blessed is to experience life with Jesus.  By His Spirit, we have the kind of joy that dwells within, is full and complete, eternally secure, and freely given to those who call upon His name. What a blessing it is to know that whatever life throws at us, Jesus is our steadfast joy!