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 remain in you, and that your joy may be full.”
Years ago, my father’s wise
and thought-provoking old pastor once asked his church congregation on one
Sunday, “What is your favorite Christian word in the Bible?” Mine is the word “joy”, but there are many
close second ones too. Galatians 5:22-23 explains that
divine “joy” is a fruit of the Holy Spirit within us. And we gain a greater
appreciation of the word “joy” when we read the 1828 Webster’s Dictionary
definition, which states that Joy is the
passion or emotion excited by the acquisition or expectation of good; that
excitement of pleasurable feelings which is caused by success, good fortune, the
gratification of desire or some good possessed, or by a rational prospect of
possessing what we love or desire; gladness; exultation; exhilaration of
spirits. Joy is a delight of the mind, from the consideration of the present or
assured approaching possession of a good. It is gayety; mirth; festivity. It is
happiness; felicity. A glorious and triumphant state. Christ provides a
life of joy to the full … a joyful life.
I read lately that the word
“fun” is never mentioned in the Bible, and “entertain” is used only in
reference to being hospitable (i.e. entertaining a guest in your home). Such
activities as “reveling” and “playing” receive nothing except condemnation in
the Scriptures (with the exception of little children at play). The world “pleasure”
is defined as: the gratification of the
senses or of the mind; agreeable sensations or emotions; the excitement, relish
or happiness produced by enjoyment or the expectation of good; opposed to pain.
We receive pleasure from the indulgence of appetite; from the view of a
beautiful landscape; from the harmony of sounds; from agreeable society; from
the expectation of seeing an absent friend; from the prospect of gain or
success of any kind. Pleasure, bodily and mental, carnal and spiritual,
constitutes the whole of positive happiness, as pain constitutes the whole of
misery. Pleasure is “properly” positive excitement of the passions or the mind.
Pleasure is susceptible of increase to any degree; but the word when
unqualified, expresses less excitement or happiness than delight or joy.
There is a huge difference between excitement and happiness, than delight
and joy.
Psalm 37:4 says “Take
delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. But, this passage must be understood through James
4:2b-3, where it tells us: “You
do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on
your pleasures.” Meaning, God will
give you the desires of your heart, when your heart desires are aligned with
God’s desires; when you delight in the Lord, not in worldly things. Yet, there
is growing emphasis today in many churches on providing “entertainment” and
“fun times” for their members—especially for teenagers and young adults. This
is the way to reach them and keep them for the Lord, so they say. But one
wonders why neither the Lord Jesus, nor the apostles, nor the prophets ever
told us so.
James 4:4-5 continues, “Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not
know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever
therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or
do you think that the Scripture says in vain, “The Spirit who dwells in us
yearns jealously”? Why? Because the love of worldly pleasures (aka hedonism) is
spiritual adultery; excitement, pleasure and entertainment happiness comes
between your face and God’s, so breaks the first Commandment; love of God, delight
in the Lord and it’s associated godly joy are nowhere in sight.
Nehemiah 8:10b “For this day is holy
to our Lord. Do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”
Actually, Christians can
have something far better, more effective, and more lasting than fun and
entertainment. In Christ, they can have heavenly joy! While the Bible never
mentions “fun,” it has many references to “joy” and “rejoicing.” We must remind
ourselves continually that the Lord Jesus daily, through His Word, shares His
joy with us, “that [our] joy might be full.” Abide in His love.
Blessings
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