A Choice to Rejoice
January 23, 2020
The post-Christmas let down is at full strength by mid-January. It is cold and often overcast. It will be months before spring arrives. The bathroom scale shows five more pounds than it did before Halloween. The December credit card bill has arrived. And tax season is just around the corner. Yikes! There are lots of reasons to be blue, but I say let’s choose something else this year.
It is a new year and a new decade! Spring will come; it always does! The bathroom scale tells me that I have plenty to eat. The credit card company thinks I am a good credit risk, and I have money in the bank to eventually pay off that debt. And as far as tax season goes, well, I have a job and it is a good enough job that I owe taxes. That is actually a lot to be thankful for! And thankfulness leads to rejoicing - if you let it. Paul reminds the Philippians to rejoice:
4 Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. 6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:4-7 (NKJV)
It is encouraging to me that joy is a choice. It can be stirred up and enjoyed at any time. My joy does not depend on the circumstances. My joy depends on my point of view. I recently read about the returning Jewish exiles in the Book of Nehemiah. They returned to find the walls of Jerusalem destroyed. They rebuilt the walls under some very adverse conditions. After the walls were rebuilt, they asked the prophet Ezra to read and teach them from the Book of the Law of Moses.
8 So they read from the Book of the Law of God distinctly, faithfully amplifying and giving the sense so that [the people] understood the reading. 9 And Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all of them, This day is holy to the Lord your God; mourn not nor weep. For all the people wept when they heard the words of the Law. 10 Then [Ezra] told them, Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet drink, and send portions to him for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. And be not grieved and depressed, for the joy of the Lord is your strength and stronghold. 11 So the Levites quieted all the people, saying, Be still, for the day is holy. And do not be grieved and sad. 12 And all the people went their way to eat, drink, send portions, and make great rejoicing, for they had understood the words that were declared to them. Nehemiah 8:8-12 (NKJV)
So the people were talked out of their grief and made a decision to rejoice. Their circumstances didn’t change, but their point of view did. They could have grieved for not having kept the law and for what they had suffered because of it. Or, they could rejoice over the fact that they had a God who brought them back home, and protected them while they rebuilt their city. They had a choice to grieve or be joyful. They made a choice to rejoice. And so can you! Happy New Year!
