Joy is supremely different than happiness. Happiness, which is an American’s inalienable right to pursue, seems to depend more on circumstances or things or people or feelings. Joy is independent of everything except our relationship with God. Someone has defined joy as peace dancing! And Jesus, with eyes that must have sparkled in anticipation of the blessing that His beloved friends were going to receive, explained, “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete” (John 15:11, NIV).
One of the hallmarks of those who are immersed in a love relationship with Jesus and His Father, which they express through abiding obedience, is joy! Joy in Jesus! Joy in living our lives for Him! Joy in abiding . . . and obeying! Joy that is complete, with nothing that needs to be added to make it more so.
Most days, my schedule is so packed that although I love my friends, I resist interruptions. Because of the pressure of time, without meaning to be rude, when someone rings the doorbell, I sometimes go to the door, stand inside the house with the screen door still fastened, and talk to the person on the other side. If it is a neighbor, we can share common experiences in raising a family or discuss the weather or neighborhood news. I may not invite the neighbor in because I know if I do, our visit will involve much more time than I have to give.
Many people seem to have a “screen door” relationship with Jesus. They talk to Him in prayer, and He talks to them through His Word; they can enjoy His presence, but they never invite Him to come into their lives as Savior and Lord. He’s on the outside, looking in. So the apostle John gave you and me motivation to open the door and invite Him to come in: “Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.”
So . . . open the door to Jesus.
God loves each and every person who has ever been born into the human race! God loves:
people of all nationalities and of all walks of life
kings and queens, the commoners and beggars,
presidents and CEOs, the employed and unemployed,
those who hold the highest titles and those who hold no title
those who hold degrees and those who hold no degree,
those who are homeless and downtrodden,
those who are outcast and poor.
God loves the whole world! God loves you! And God loves even me!
Nowhere in the Bible does it say that everyone on earth is a child of God. But the Bible does say God loves everyone on our planet, and we can call God our Father when we come to Him in a personal relationship through faith in His Son.
The One Who called Abraham out of Ur of the Chaldees, promising to fully bless him if he would follow Him in a life of faith is the same Person Who today calls us out of the world and promises to bless us if we follow Him in a life of faith.
The One Who delivered His children from bondage to slavery in Egypt with a titanic display of power is the same Person Who was crucified then rose from the dead to deliver His children today from the bondage of sin.
The One Who halted the entire invasion of Canaan by the Israelites while He extended His grace to one Canaanite prostitute is the same Person today Who stops to care for and extend His grace to sinners.
The One Who answered Elijah’s prayer and sent down the fire to consume the sacrifice on Mount Carmel and then sent down the rain to end the three-year drought in Israel is the same Person today Who hears and answers prayer. Do you know Him?
I wonder what Enoch and God talked about as they walked together each day. Perhaps Enoch commented on the beauty of the sunrise that morning and how much he had enjoyed listening to the sound of the birds calling to each other as they awakened before dawn. Or perhaps he told God how grateful he was for the evidence of His faithfulness when he saw the sun come up every morning.
It was never drudgery for Enoch to meet with God. It wasn’t something he felt he had to do; it was something he wanted to do. In the process, he must have grown in an ever more intimate, loving, personal knowledge of Who God is. He gave God his undivided attention, spent more and more time with Him, gained a greater and greater depth of understanding, allowed fewer and fewer interruptions until there were no interruptions at all and his walk of faith became sight!
Enoch’s friends looked for him, but he couldn’t be found, because he had walked right into the very presence of God!
