Rev Up The Joy Engine

Woop, I'm yawning big this morning and it stretches tears out of my eyes. I will attempt to write about joy while it looks like I'm weeping. Ah, the simple joy of a good night's sleep, evidence shows that I didn't get that last night. But, isn't that a condition? Should we only experience the joy of our Lord when conditions are just right? Oops, can't have any joy today, I didn't get a good night's sleep. No, Paul was not inspired to write a letter to the Philippians that we throw away just because the conditions aren't right.

I write about joy fairly often because I just can't quite seem to get it right in my life. I find myself reviewing the conditions and not looking at the eternal right Jesus has given to me. A child of God? How can I go around depressed? Eternity with Jesus on the New Earth; going to the New Jerusalem to celebrate Christmas with Christ; watching a seed grow to maturity and enjoying the fruit of it for centuries; these are promises that should lift up our countenance. Well, we don't know that much about Heaven, do we? Perhaps the Bible does not specifically put together Christ, Christmas, and the New Jerusalem, but will the joy we felt as children at the approach of Christmas simply go away in eternity? Will the Beastlings celebration at the death of God's two messengers during the Tribulation be the final mockery of our holiday? I think not!

Rev up the joy engine, the Christmas celebration when the Earth is resurrected will be something to enjoy. The heavenly host at the birth of Christ may be but a model for us as we sing at the Nativity pageant where God shows us exactly how it went in Bethlehem. Yup, we'll know once and for all how many wise men showed up. Is that all we will do? Perish the thought. What about that cabin with the mountain view you wanted in this life, but never had the resources to build? We will have plenty of time in Heaven to build it.

Say after a couple thousand years or so, you are not tired of life in the New Jerusalem, but God has given you a few provinces to rule a ways out there, maybe a few million miles away, and you want to finally build that cabin with the great view of your mountains. You approach Jesus and ask for his advice. He thinks its a wonderful idea and creates a few acorns for you right on the spot. Nuts? But wait, you have eternity to work with, why not build from the seed up? An oak cabin is just what you wanted though you weren't sure at the time.

Your God-given duties are a joy and you find the time as always in Heaven to check on your little oaks over a century or so and, lo and behold, you now have quite a grove of mature trees. One problem, you kind of like those trees, they are a further joy in this land of greater and greater joy. in fact, a little ordering of your grove is in order. Those two trees are too close to each other. You tell one to move and it sings a happy little song as it transplants itself. (Cuz trees in Heaven do that when they move, of course.)

Jesus stops by to see how the cabin project is going and you tell him your reservations about destroying the oaks just to make boards for a cabin.

"No problem", our Lord says with a light in his eyes, "simply teach your trees to grow boards for you"

Eh? The Lord loves to teach and over a few centuries or so shows you how to do this. By now you have an oak forest in your province with squirrels happily chasing each other and raising their young through the trees. Donkeys arrive to bear burdens of boards happily to your building site, lions carefully take the finished boards from the trees to load the donkeys, and The Carpenter himself returns to help with the building. The construction has barely begun, and your joy grows with each passing day. You pause a moment and decide to have a few of your trees start growing firewood for the great fireplace; this will be some cabin!

I don't do this enough in this life. Why do we work up a good dread for tomorrow, when we can spend some time imagining life on the New Earth where we will spend eternity? There are cares and responsibilities here and now, but we are only to worry about today. Once your worries for today are brought to God in prayer and well sorted, think about eternity. Talk to God about your plans, or are you just trying to 'get there'? Shouldn't we glorify God by enjoying the thought of spending eternity with Him? Jesus already took care of the getting there bit.

Bucky