Learn verses, meditate on them (v.15) and speak them out (v.13). He writes, ‘I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you’ (v.11). In the Bible we find the path to purity: ‘How can the young keep their way pure? By living according to your word’ (v.9). He writes, ‘I rejoice in following your statutes as one rejoices in great riches… I delight in your decrees’ (vv.14,16a). Yet, as the psalmist points out, God’s wisdom and his promises are a source of delight, rejoicing and great riches. Reading the Bible is the last place in the world that most people would expect to find joy. There is such great joy in finding directions to abundant life. It helps you to avoid straying (v.10) and getting lost. The Bible gives you the best directions for life. There is great joy when we find someone who is able to give us good directions. We often get lost on car journeys (even with a satnav or Google Maps!). Neither Pippa nor I have a very good sense of direction. It is not found in things, but in a Person.ĩ How can a young person stay on the path of purity?
It is not a fleeting emotion, but a deep way of being – a state of mind that is available to everybody. ‘Contentment’ is longer term – being satisfied with your life, your home, your job and your relationships.īut there is another kind of happiness that we call ‘joy’. But these experiences of pleasure come and go. People can become pleasure addicts – always seeking the next fix. ‘Pleasure’ can come from a good holiday, a pay rise or a bar of chocolate. Many people confuse pleasure, contentment and joy. He discovered that ‘the heart of reality’ is to be found in a Person. He experienced great joy through his new-found faith. To his great surprise he found that following Jesus was the very opposite to what he expected. At that moment, he was ‘the most dejected and reluctant convert in all England’. If anything, he had thought it would be the opposite: ‘For all I knew, the total rejection of what I called Joy might be one of the demands.’Ĭonvinced that it was true, Lewis ‘admitted that God was God’. He had never expected that there was any connection between God and joy. Lewis described his conversion from atheism to faith in Jesus Christ.
0 kommentar(er)
