Phiiippians 4:4-5

“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near.” vss. 4-5

Somewhere along the way, Christians have gotten a reputation as dour, fun-dampening people, and to some sad extent this isn’t an exaggeration. We’ve seen folks in our congregations whose faces seem never to have smiled and to whom the term “kill-joy” could easily be applied. Somewhere along the line they seem to have gotten the message that following Jesus is a serious matter and that fun is one of the deadly sins. Paul provides a corrective to such people in his letter to the Philippians. “Rejoice in the Lord always; again, I will say, Rejoice.” He’s not saying that faith is a joking matter, but he does believe that it should be joyful. And what a difference it makes when we are. The smiles in our hearts that are made evident in our faces make us a magnet for hurting, lonely people. Some have actually tried this as an experiment. They’ve smiled at every person they’ve encountered in the course of a day, and taken note of the responses they’ve received. It’s stunning to see a smile change the mood of a person and elevate the level of love in a room. For some this comes naturally. They can’t hold back their exuberance about the life they have in Jesus. Some of the rest of us have to work on it. But what a difference joy makes! It’s the Christian’s magic pill!

Thought for the Day: Why is rejoicing hard for some?