March 18, 2019
REJOICE
From the Greek chairo, which can mean calmly happy or excitedly cheerful (or something in-between).
Last week, I found myself stuck in a frustratingly long checkout line in Target. I was busy…and tired…and didn’t feel good. It was my day off, and I had a thousand things to do. I stood there imagining all the ways that Target could solve this problem (MY problem!) and making a mental list of all the things I wasn’t getting done because I was stuck in line.
And then the little girl in the cart ahead of me decided it was time to sing. She was 3 or 4, and even though she was strapped in her seat in the cart, she had not stopped squirming the entire time we’d been in line. She wasn’t angry—just energetic—and now, she’d found a way to make the most of her time. Again and again, she sang:
This is the day (this is the day)
That the Lord has CAKE (that the Lord has CAKE)
I will RE-JOY and be GLAD of it!
The Apostle Paul tells us to “rejoice in the Lord ALWAYS” (Philippians 4:4), and he meant it. It didn’t seem to matter to Paul what else was happening: he always found reason to rejoice. Shipwreck? Prison? Beatings? Trouble in the church? Paul still rejoiced—and still believed we could, too. For Paul, knowing Jesus was all the reason he needed to celebrate. For Paul, every day was CAKE-worthy.
The Greek root which gives us the words "joy" and "rejoice" means to lean toward, or to favor. Maybe what Paul is saying is that no matter how STUCK we feel or how FRUSTRATING our circumstances might be, we can always lean toward Jesus--and always find a reason to celebrate when we do.
How will you rejoice in the Lord today?
REJOICE
From the Greek chairo, which can mean calmly happy or excitedly cheerful (or something in-between).
Last week, I found myself stuck in a frustratingly long checkout line in Target. I was busy…and tired…and didn’t feel good. It was my day off, and I had a thousand things to do. I stood there imagining all the ways that Target could solve this problem (MY problem!) and making a mental list of all the things I wasn’t getting done because I was stuck in line.
And then the little girl in the cart ahead of me decided it was time to sing. She was 3 or 4, and even though she was strapped in her seat in the cart, she had not stopped squirming the entire time we’d been in line. She wasn’t angry—just energetic—and now, she’d found a way to make the most of her time. Again and again, she sang:
This is the day (this is the day)
That the Lord has CAKE (that the Lord has CAKE)
I will RE-JOY and be GLAD of it!
The Apostle Paul tells us to “rejoice in the Lord ALWAYS” (Philippians 4:4), and he meant it. It didn’t seem to matter to Paul what else was happening: he always found reason to rejoice. Shipwreck? Prison? Beatings? Trouble in the church? Paul still rejoiced—and still believed we could, too. For Paul, knowing Jesus was all the reason he needed to celebrate. For Paul, every day was CAKE-worthy.
The Greek root which gives us the words "joy" and "rejoice" means to lean toward, or to favor. Maybe what Paul is saying is that no matter how STUCK we feel or how FRUSTRATING our circumstances might be, we can always lean toward Jesus--and always find a reason to celebrate when we do.
How will you rejoice in the Lord today?