Real Joy, Real Fun

The world often pretends it has a monopoly on joy. They plan the biggest celebrations, they talk the loudest about their weekends, but they don't really understand what real fun is.

God is a God of joy. When He created Adam and Eve He immediately gave them a Sabbath, when He rescued Israel the people danced and sang for joy:

Then Miriam the prophetess, Aaron's sister, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women followed her, with tambourines and dancing. Miriam sang to them:
"Sing to the LORD,
for he is highly exalted.
The horse and its rider
he has hurled into the sea." [Ex. 15:20-21]

When He established Israel He commanded them to celebrate:

So beginning with the fifteenth day of the seventh month, after you have gathered the crops of the land, celebrate the festival to the LORD for seven days; the first day is a day of rest, and the eighth day also is a day of rest. [Lev. 23:39]

When God gave us the Holy Spirit He also gave us the Spirit of Joy:

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. [Gal: 5:22-23]

Sometimes we as Christians can become mechanical in our faith. We may find ourselves reading the Word of God because we feel guilty if we don't, or we may go to church because we have the habit of going, or we sing the praise songs because we have to sing, but this kind of faith is not truly pleasing to God.

God is a God of Joy and heaven is His home; He doesn't just enjoy praise He commands it; He doesn't just give us rest and celebrations He commanded His people to observe them. When we become mechanical in our faith we need to step back and truly reflect on what God has done for us. We need to remember the power over sin and death itself, we need to remember that we have that power abiding in us, and we need to get up and celebrate.

Celebration is pure praise, it is a reflection of joy that everyone can see. We Christians often look for situations to take advantage of to spread the Word of God but sometimes we forget that in the fun of a celebration all of the world's stereotypes begins to crumble.

During my grandparent's fiftieth wedding celebration people of all ages, all races, and all backgrounds danced, ate good food, and laughed. We enjoyed that day and that joy gave a little glimpse of what heaven would be like. When we celebrated that great event we spoke to this truth: heaven is our home.

"After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands" [Rev. 7:9]

One day we will enter those gates and join that great multitude that no one can count, a multitude that has no dominant race, no dominant culture, and we will celebrate like we've never done before, but we don't have to wait until then to start celebrating.

So when we get a chance to celebrate let's enjoy that time with all our might. Let's praise God and show the world what true joy looks like. Let's show the world what true fun is.