TUESDAY, APRIL 21
“Always be full of joy in the Lord.”
Philippians 4:4 (NLT2)
FULL OF JOY
A fly was buzzing along one morning when he saw a lawn mower someone had left out in their front yard. He flew over and sat on the handle, watching the children going down the sidewalk on their way to school. One little boy tripped on a crack and fell, spilling his lunch on the sidewalk. He picked himself up, put his lunch back in the bag and went on. But he missed a piece of bologna.
The fly flew down and started eating the bologna. In fact the fly ate so much bologna that he could not fly, so he waddled across the sidewalk, across the lawn, up the wheel of the lawn mower, up the handle, and sat there resting. But there was still some bologna laying there on the sidewalk. He was really stuffed, but that bologna sure did look good. Finally temptation got the best of him and he jumped off the handle of the lawn mower to fly over to the bologna. But he was too full to fly and he went splat, killing him instantly. Now, you know the moral of the story: Don’t fly off the handle when you are full of bologna.
In Philippians the Bible wants us to be full but not full of bologna. We are told to always be full of joy. The word means to be constantly, habitually rejoicing. It’s a lifestyle of joy that emanates from an active choice of our will regardless of whether confronted with joyful or adverse circumstances and/or people. Again, the Apostle Paul is writing from jail and not telling us to do something that he isn’t doing himself.
I have seen gas as low as $1.58/gallon recently. I don’t think I have ever been more excited to fill my car with gas. I know that my happiness in that moment is temporary and one day gas prices will rise again. This passage challenges us to fill up with the unwavering promise of joy. Take some time today and ask God to fill you up with joy. Specifically talk to God about anything in your life that may be challenging and ask God to fill you with joy in spite of those things.
