Sunday’s message was about joy during the Christmas season.  It is difficult to always maintain an attitude of joy with all the extras that Christmas brings…extra busyness, stress, socializing, pressure and so on.  Christmas will have come and gone, and we will be left on New Years thinking, “Where did all the time go?  Where was the joy that Christmas usually brings?”  It is sad when we live joyless lives…especially as a Christian.

I used King Herod as an example of a person who’s joy is gone.  Maybe your joy is being sapped too because one or even both of these following reasons have you wrapped up.

Your joy can be sapped when you’re too wrapped up in your self.

Your trying to get it all done…decorations, parties, presents and you find that it doesn’t satisfy.  Trying to always be in control leaves you feeling isolated and exhausted.  Your priorties are completely backward…You focus on yourself and your family first, then others, and then Jesus comes in last.

Perhaps you should repriortize this way  (J)esus, (O)thers, (Y)ourself…that’s a great formula to regain J-O-Y!

Your joy can be sapped when you’re too wrapped up in sin.

People who have ongoing sin in their lives become people hard to love and hard to be around.  Even people with hidden sin are riddled with guilt, and it affects the way they interact with others.  You can’t please God with a sin-filled life, and you’ll never please yourself in the end.

You must remember that Jesus came to the world to save people from their sins…and that means you!  The joy of salvation can belong to you because the angel proclaimed the night of Jesus’ birth that she had:

Good News of

Great Joy

For All People!

I read one of my favorite Proverbs today that reminds me that I can respond to this Christmas season with JOY.  The reality is that an attitude of joy is not automatic; It is a choice.

If I don’t respond with joy, I won’t have joy…  Please meditate with me on this wonderful message:

Proverbs 15:15 (The Message)

¹⁵ A miserable heart means a miserable life;
a cheerful heart fills the day with song.