August 10

Joy is of God

“The Lord had made them joyful” (Ezra 6:22).
“Your joy no man taketh from you” (John 16:22).

There are few things more attractive than joy, and few more communicative. We are instinctively drawn to persons possessed of a happy countenance and a bright, cheery manner. Over the young especially, a joyful countenance and cheerful manner exert a powerful influence. True wisdom is “rejoicing always before Him,” and neutralizing the devil’s lie, that the service of God is a gloomy thing.
It is one of the striking evidences of the love of God that He has so secured the existence and wide diffusion of joy, that even in this sin-stricken world it is everywhere to be found. The young of all animals are naturally joyous; health and vigor make even toil a pleasure; and the lawful exercise of every faculty with which God has endowed us tends to the increase of our joy. The birds of the air, the flowers of the field, the wild rolling ocean, and the stable, glorious hills are all sources of joy; and every social and domestic relationship of life tends to increase the sum of human happiness. It is quite clear that the God of creation would have His creatures joyful.


Not only does nature teach us that it must be the will of our Father that His children especially should be a joyful family, but the Old and New Testaments are full of encouragements, and even commands, to lead rejoicing lives. In the revival recorded in Nehemiah we find that the people were overwhelmed by the contrast between their individual and national lives and the requirements of God. But those who taught the people said, “This day is holy unto the Lord your God; mourn not, nor weep. . . . Go your way, eat the fat and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared . . .” And the people went their way and rejoiced accordingly.
Joy is of God.
—Hudson Taylor.

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