Take Your Joy

John the Baptist exemplified the attitude of joy toward the Lord that all people would do well to follow.  People followed John and trusted him.  In fact, we see in Scripture that those followers were considered his “disciples.” 

Knowing that, imagine the depth of humility he possessed that enabled him to resist pointing to himself and choosing rather to point toward the ultimate Teacher.  John pointed to Jesus.

How did he know to whom to point?  John the disciple, wrote in the first chapter of John that John the Baptist knew Jesus and His role because God the Father revealed that to him.   An encounter that John could only explain by beautiful analogy opened the eyes of those there to witness the baptism of Jesus.  Searching for language, the disciple, illustrated the experience by speaking of a dove, a symbol of peace, resting upon the man named Jesus.  The Holy Spirit glorified the Son as He came up out of the waters of Jordan.         

Then John said these words . . .

I have seen and I testify that this is the Son of God.

Followers of Christ are called to reflect upon the greatest of relationships – their relationship with God.  

Is yours healthy?  Do you still feel that rush of love as you enter into God’s presence?

As you build up, work on, or enhance your relationship with God, I invite you to look to the life of John.  Notice what he did.

John testified. 

The people who encountered John knew, without a doubt, that John daily encountered the Lord.  John did not stop at seeing, he continued on to the telling.  John could not contain his joy.  His joy overflowed because he was in love with his Lord.

John’s willingness to see and to testify produced spectacular results in the kingdom of God. His joy was contagious. 

John’s Joy spread to Andrew;
- Andrew’s Joy spread to Peter;
- Peter’s Joy spread to the Gentile Cornelius;
- Cornelius’s Joy spread to the Gentile population of Jerusalem;
- the Gentiles of Jerusalem's Joy spread through the Middle East;
- and the Joy just kept on spreading. 
Because of John’s selfless Joy' we have Joy; for that Joy that began in him continues in its contagious state today. 

People can take nearly everything away from you if they so choose; but, as a believer, they cannot take your Lord or your joy.

The words of an old spiritual still ring true:

This joy that I have, the world didn’t give it to me.  This joy that I have, the world didn’t give it to me.  The world didn’t give it and the world can’t take it away.

Don’t let our world take your joy away.  Instead, take your joy to the world. The world needs to hear it.