Good Thursday morning! I'm searching in my mind for a special day to celebrate with you this morning, but nothing comes to mind. This is surprising in that it seems like almost every day on the calendar is set aside for some obscure "National" day. The Bible has a slightly different way of making our day special. I recall a verse that simply says: "This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it!" Psalms 118:24. Not a specific date on a calendar that must be anticipated, or can be missed in the busyness, but simply this day. Each morning we can get up and speak that one simple verse aloud. This! ...is the day the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it!
Rejoicing in the morning is not always easy. Looking at almost any news page is a sort of, "alright, who died yesterday" exercise. If we don't see news of a horrible tragedy, then we can read about people in a position of trust betraying their country or their employers, some celebrity mouthing off or breaking any number of laws; or even someone we respected once again shattering the myth of human self-righteousness. The plain fact is that looking at the world too much will certainly make it impossible to rejoice. Waking up with a promise to rejoice in the day must require us to look elsewhere.
Looking inside our own hearts may not be the answer either. If the Holy Spirit has opened the eyes of your heart so to speak, you will see the lust of the flesh that Paul wrote about displayed in shocking Technicolor, wide-screen format, 3-d horror. Jeremiah the prophet wrote: "The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?" (17:9) When we read in the news about some minister, pastor, or priest who has fallen we are often first disappointed. But the only difference is that person's sin has been made public; your sin and my sin may be known only to God and each of us. However, since God's standard is much more strict than the world's, not one of us is getting away with anything. If you had to stand in court with everyone but the judge knowing your crime, you might harbor a hope of leniency from the judge, perhaps he would even declare you not guilty. On the other hand, if only the judge knew the depth of your guilt, it really wouldn't matter that the gallery knew nothing of your crime.
God, the eternal and final judge, knows every crime against His Law that you and I have ever committed. How are you doing at cleaning up your life? I can speak for myself in this: I find that I have no willpower, a strong lust of the flesh, and a quick, sharp ability to find an excuse for my sins. In my own strength I am weak to resist temptation and lost before I even start the race. I have found my judgment lacking and good sense not present at roll call. When someone gives me good advice, something in me immediately rises up to rebel. Cleaning up my own life in my own strength and ability just isn't going to happen. What is there to rejoice about on this day inside of me?
Of course, you are way ahead of me here. When we come to believe in Jesus and surrender our lives to Him, we gain some help in this battle. The Holy Spirit Jesus sent to us when he ascended to Heaven will convict us of sin, remind us of scripture, and call our attention away from our deceitful heart and back to God our Creator. The heart cleansing work of the Spirit begins as soon as He arrives in us. Like Lazarus, Jesus has called us forth from the tomb of our own sin and told the Spirit to strip away the grave clothes. Afraid of our own nakedness, we tend to grab at a few of those rotten garments and that is the lust of the flesh we feel now. The white robe of righteousness that Jesus holds for us cannot be put on us until every last shred of the old life has been stripped away. The Spirit is patient and tenacious though and gradually, you will know the freedom from sin that Christ has promised us. Is there reason to rejoice in each day? You bet there is!
Look to the one who has saved you! Look at Jesus through prayer and the scriptures. See his compassion for the sick and dying. Read about the Father's great love for the world in John 3:16. Read and think about the love so great that Christ went to the cross for us. Go to Revelation and read our Lord's promise to return soon. Take up John 14 and read about the place Jesus has gone to prepare for us. Yes, and you and me can find many more reasons to rejoice in Christ Jesus!
Have a great and wonderful day in Christ!
Bucky
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