If the biblical answer to the secular world’s search for enduring happiness through “positive thinking” is Godly joy, as we have discussed in recent weeks, then it stands to reason that paying attention to the Bible is at least one of the ways we receive that joy. To quote openthebible.org:
“In the English Standard Version of the Bible, the words ‘joy,’ ‘rejoice,’ or ‘joyful’ appear a total of 430 times, compared with ‘happy’ or ‘happiness,’ which appear only ten times. Joy is lasting, and it satisfies the heart in a unique and marvelous way.”
Amen.
430 times is obviously a lot. Since one of the Bible’s primary purposes is to teach us about the nature of God, and how we may share in all the benefits He stores up for His children, it makes complete sense that “internalizing” Scripture in our heart, soul, mind, and spirit is a very important way to experience them.
Therefore, if you want joy read about it, in depth, on a regular basis in the Word of God. With 430 references to this state of being we all have plenty of things which we can read, ponder and internalize! Along with the purposeful and persistent prayer we discussed last week we can add regular times of personal study of those 430 references, their context, and their potential application to our own lives.
One of the wonderful things about Bible-centered devotional time is that just the act of deep and repeated reading/study of the Scriptures is a vessel through which the Holy Spirit works within us. That means he can work things within us and one of those things most surely is a deep and abiding joy in Christ that can remain and increase in our experience for the rest of our lives.
This series started with questioning both the rightness and effectiveness of currently popular secular teachings about “the power of positive thinking.” It ends with a powerful way to access our Lord’s authentic and lasting alternative to these kinds of often self-centered philosophies. It is not that we do not need to live in a positive way. In fact, in our industry, being positive more than negative is essential to both our witness and our survival! The question, as with so many things in this life, is where we look for our legitimate needs to be legitimately met.
As believers the ultimate place to both look and find for anything truly good, truly “positive” is in God Himself.
“You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.” Psalm 16:11 (NIV)
