The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy and peace.
— Galatians 5:22
There it is in black and white. Scripture tells us clearly that a mark of a believer, a Christian, is that they have joy. Hmm. Well, sometimes, as God’s people, we do. Sometimes it seems we don’t.
Cars today have a lot of gauges that measure and report everything. The first old car I had would show you what speed you were going, and that was about it. It did have a temperature gauge that was supposed to tell you if the car was overheating. However, the smoke coming out from under the hood would usually alert you to that fact before the gauge did.
If you had a gauge that reported your joy level, what would it read today? Would you be full? Half-full? Or would the “low on joy” light be on?
The joy that the Word talks about is “of the Spirit.” It is of God. It is given to the children of God to help empower them in this world and on into the next. This joy is not manmade, nor is it external. It is internal and eternal.
You want your joy gauge to read “full?” Ask our heavenly Father to fill you with his Spirit today and to give you the wisdom to see the God-given good things all around you. Then you will have joy.
Though I do not know the author, I like this little poem:
You have a ticket to heaven no thief can take
An eternal home no divorce can break.
Every sin of your life has been cast to the sea.
Every mistake you’ve made is nailed to the tree.
You’re blood bought and heaven made,
a child of God – forever saved.
So be joyful – for isn’t it true?
What you don’t have is much less that what you do.
If you are not a Christian, make that decision today. The Spirit will give you joy.