Category: Devotion of the Day

HIS JOY

These things have I spoke unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.
John 15:11

The joy of the Lord is not the natural exuberance of youth. It is not ordinary human enthusiasm. It is not the exhilaration caused by favorable happenings and circumstances. It is not the emotion whipped up by high-pressure hilarity. All these may have their place, but the joy Jesus gives is different. It outlasts youth. It is more than human, it is Divine. It is present, no matter what happens. It is not worked up, it comes down. It comes from a man of Sorrows acquainted with grief. It lasts, it remains. And it is full, not partial.

Because of our shallow living we know little of this joy, so we work hard trying to pump up a substitute. How much of our religious life today runs on the same stimulus that a cheer leader works up before a ball game! But it is a poor substitute, it has a hollow ring and it gives out when we need help most.

Make His joy your joy!

HINDER ME NOT

Hinder me not, seeing the Lord hath prospered my way.
Genesis 24:56

Abraham’s servant needed plenty of guidance. A man looking for a wife for himself needs all the illumination he can get, but this servant was looking for a wife for somebody else! Being in the way, as he put it, the Lord led him and he found the right girl. Now the subtle temptation to tarry awhile arises. It looks innocent enough, but he is on his guard. It is dangerous to linger. He will be on his journey. “Hinder me not, seeing the Lord hath prospered my way.”

We are often faced with the tempter’s suggestion to tarry, linger awhile, take it easy. But if the Lord has prospered our way we had better be going. Layovers at Satan’s suggestion become layoffs, and we fail of our mission. The diligent servant who is about his master’s business will take no holiday when he should be up and about and on his way home.

It would have been pleasant to enjoy the hospitality of Rebekah’s kinfolk and they meant well, no doubt. But the most innocent and well-intentioned can spell havoc with God’s timetable.

“Rise, let us be going.”