Good News – Joy Has Come!
As we continue to look at the words of the angel to the shepherds, we read: “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.” (Luke 2:10–11 NIV11)
Good news of great joy!
The Jewish people were in a bit of a slump in the years between the Old and New Testaments. There was a spirit of indifference creeping into the average Jew’s outlook, because the promised Messiah hadn’t come. They were beginning to wonder if it would ever even happen at all.
But oh the joy that was coming! Oh the joy that was around the corner in the coming of Jesus! The good news of Jesus’ arrival meant this: your time of miserable waiting has ended. He is here. Rejoice!
Unleashing Happiness: John Wesley's Joyful Faith
John Wesley, the great evangelist of the 1700s was a happy man. He spoke much about how the life of faith in Christ resulted in both holiness and happiness. In fact, the Puritan Christians generally had the reputation for being dour, miserable, joyless people. But Wesley was a standout – his life was characterised by a deep sense of happiness, because of his relationship with God.
Ted Runyon, who wrote a book about Wesley wrote this: “One of the real outcomes of the Wesleyan revival in England was that it unleashed a sense of inward happiness which effectively freed many people from the drudgery and burden of eighteenth-century common life” (Runyon, 45).
One example of this, which Wesley himself recorded in his diary, spoke of a woman who: “was confined to her bed, and in much pain, yet unspeakably happy, rejoicing evermore, praying without ceasing, and in everything giving thanks; yea, and testifying that she had enjoyed the same happiness, without any intermission, for two-and-twenty years”.
In much pain, yet unspeakably happy. You see, when you get to know this good news and believe in it deep in your heart, and when you get to know this Jesus who the shepherds spoke of and glorified, it’s not just a ‘religious’ experience. Jesus is the bringer of joy, an unspeakable joy even if you are in much pain.
True Joy Found in Jesus: Embracing the Good New
Here’s a prickly question: Where do you turn when you are looking for some joy in your life? When you are needing some fulfilment and inner satisfaction? When you are feeling depleted and sad?
Hear me today: The good news is that joy has come through Jesus. It is relationship with Him, love for Him, time with Him, that ultimately gives us joy. Nothing else can compare!
Oh, we can pursue joy in many ways. We can seek that satisfaction through a thousand different things. All of them fail to truly satisfy! But when Jesus is our highest joy, our deepest love, our greatest delight, our fondest treasure, when He is our joy, our hearts overflow, and we are satisfied!
Seek HIM this Christmas. Seek HIM with all your heart – not the Christmassy ‘stuff’ that we get all wrapped up in.
Sit with Him… worship Him… sing to Him… read His words… delight in His love…
And find TRUE joy.
THAT’s good news.
Jesus' words amazed those who heard Him, filling them with wonder at His teaching and power. Do His words still fill you with wonder today, or have they become merely familiar?