Sullivan church of Christ – Sullivan, MO
Date: December 31, 2006
THE JOY OF WORSHIPPING GOD
Ben Justice
As Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible says, “Joy is more conspicuous in
Christianity than in any other religion, and in the Bible than in any other
literature” (Pg. 500). The word “joy” occurs frequently in the scriptures. The
Greek word is chara and is found 60 times in the NT. It is translated “joy” most
of the time, but it is also translated “gladness” (3 times) and “joyfulness” (1
time). The word basically means to be happy, to be in delight, to have gladness.
“Joy” is something that is intrinsically a part of the kingdom of God (Rom. 14:
17). Thus, those who are citizens in the kingdom should be a joyous people.
This doesn’t mean everyone is. If not, then there is a spiritual deficiency
somewhere that needs to be corrected before it is allowed to fester and grow into
apostasy. The devil would like nothing better than for us to be unhappy in our
Christian walk.
Many things motivate us to have joy. First and foremost is Jesus Christ and
what he did to effect our salvation. The Lord’s birth, life, and resurrection
should cause us to have great joy. Certainly, the blessings that come with
Christianity motivate joy and happiness (cf. Eph. 1:3; Rom. 12:12).
The manifestations of joy are seen in a variety of ways. One specific area is in
our worship to God. The Psalmist said, “I was glad when they said unto me, Let us
go into the house of the Lord” (Psalm 122:1). David penned these words. He was
glad that he was able to go into the house of Lord. What about us? To be able to
worship the One who has provided a way of escape from the condemnation of sin
ought to give us great joy and happiness. If manifesting this joy in worship to
our Creator and Heavenly Father does not bring us joy, then we need to ask
ourselves some questions and honestly answer them: What motivates me to be
a Christian? How motivated am I to live the Christian life? How do I view my
service to God? Do I view my worship and service to God as getting in the way of
my life or something I look forward to? How much am I willing to sacrifice to live
the Christian life? How much time? How much energy? How much of my
abilities? Just how committed do I want to be in living the Christian life? The
reason why there are so many seemingly miserable Christians is very simply
because they have not truly denied self and taken up their cross and daily
following Jesus (Luke 9:23). They have not truly put the Lord first (Matt. 6:33).
Someone once said, “. . . we may not feel the great joy that is ours to have in
Christ because we have not taken full advantage of what He offers us.” If joy
and happiness is lacking in worshipping God, then it is also lacking in other
areas of Christian service. The following things are offered to help us cultivate
joy in our lives:
1.) Come to truly appreciate what God and Jesus have done for you. Just think:
Where would we be without the sacrifice of Jesus? Christianity is truly the best
life there is to live. The blessings that accompany being a Christian are
tremendous. We must come to appreciate these things.
2.) The Word of God has been given so that we can come to learn about the
things mentioned above. John wrote, “And these things write we unto you, that you
joy may be full” (I John 1:4). Notice that what John wrote was meant to effect
“joy” in the lives of those to whom he wrote. It is obvious that those things
John wrote had to be read and studied. If not, then they would not have come to
know that joy. The same is true today. The principle would apply to all of God’s
word. Reading and studying God’s word is the number one thing a person can do
to cultivate joy and happiness in their lives.
3.) Don’t give half-hearted worship to God. There is a difference in giving half-
hearted service and giving whole-hearted service. Put your all into the singing.
Concentrate fully on the prayers being said and the partaking of the Lord’s
Supper. Instead of day-dreaming or writing notes, concentrate your mind and
energies upon the Word of God as it is being proclaimed. You see, it all boils
down to attitudes. We must focus our minds and hearts upon what we are doing.
4.) Don’t leave the worship services empty-handed. Be determined to learn
something and to be edified. Go away with the determination to make
application.
There are many things that we can do to generate joy and happiness.
Christianity, including worshipping God, should never seem like a burden; it
should forever be a blessing. Let us strive to have that “full joy” that God
intended us to have. If we allow ourselves to be overcome with misery and
unhappiness, then this is exactly where the devil wants us to be, for he knows
that such a person is no good in the kingdom, because the kingdom is one
characterized as “joy” (Rom. 14:17).
A GRIM REMINDER OF THE EFFECTS OF ALCOHOL
Ben Justice
There was a story of a Georgia school girl who had observed the slaughter caused
by strong drink on the highways and wrote a prize winning essay, which she
called “A Fool In Action.” She wrote:
Take one regular, natural-born fool, add two or three drinks of liquor and mix the two
in a high-powered motor car. After the fool is thoroughly soaked, place his foot on the
gas and release the brakes. Remove the fool from the wreckage. Place in a black, satin-
lined box, and garnish with flowers.
This is re-lived over and over again across the highways of America every day. In
fact, it is said that alcohol is involved in 50% of all driving fatalities. In the
United States, every 30 minutes someone is killed in an alcohol related traffic
accident. Sadly, these statistics were realized right here in our own community
this past week. The front page picture told the story in last week’s edition of the
Sullivan Independent News. A tragic accident ensued when one man crossed I-
44 and hit another vehicle head-on, on the opposite side. Several others were
also affected by the accident. The outcome to this tragic wreck was two
fatalities. According to the report, the initiator of the accident was arrested for
driving while intoxicated. Although the report noted that he suffered serious
injuries, he will be okay, so it seems. However, the innocent ones were the
ones killed. The closing paragraph in the newspaper stated the following:
On Friday, the Missouri Highway Patrol accident reconstruction team conducted an
accident reconstruction of the incident for an official report as to what went wrong on
Thursday evening.
This is a rather stupid statement. What do they mean “what went wrong?” What
went wrong is self-explanatory. Alcohol is the culprit! Take away the alcohol
and “what went wrong” would have never “went wrong.” What is sad is that
stories like this can be multiplied over and over. The one that happened in this
area is just another grim reminder of the devastating effects of alcohol. Let us
take heed to the words of Solomon — “Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and
whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise. . . . At the last it biteth like a serpent, and
stingeth like an adder” (Pro. 20:1; 23:32).