How to rob yourself of joy in this life …

If we want a life of joy, we can have it. If we don’t have a life of joy, it’s because we’ve robbed ourselves of it.

How do we rob ourselves of joy in this life? By valuing people and things differently than Jesus does.

What we consider to be important in our lives is often of no eternal consequence whatsoever, a fact illustrated in this story from an unknown source …

There once was a rich man who was near death. He was very grieved because he had worked so hard for his money and he wanted to be able to take it with him to heaven. So he began to pray that he might be able to take some of his wealth with him.

An angel hears his plea and appears to him. “Sorry, but you can’t take your wealth with you.”

The man implores the angel to speak to God to see if He might bend the rules. The man continues to pray that his wealth could follow him. The angel reappears and informs the man that God has decided to allow him to take one suitcase with him. Overjoyed, the man gathers his largest suitcase and fills it with pure gold bars and places it beside his bed.

Soon afterward the man dies and shows up at the Gates of Heaven to greet St. Peter. St. Peter, seeing the suitcase says, “Hold on, you can’t bring that in here!”

But, the man explains to St. Peter that he has permission and asks him to verify his story with the Lord. Sure enough, St. Peter checks and comes back saying, “You’re right. You are allowed one suitcase, but I’m supposed to check its contents before letting it through.”

St. Peter opens the suitcase to inspect the worldly items that the man found too precious to leave behind and exclaims, “You brought pavement?!!!”

What some consider to be precious on earth is what the main street of heaven is paved with (Rev. 21:21)!

Joy has nothing to do with our circumstances, but everything to do with how we value people and things. When we value people and things with the mind of Christ, His joy is made complete in us. It is vital, then, for the Holy Spirit to transform our minds so we think like Jesus thinks. AT THE SAME TIME, it’s critical that we let go of the earthly things we clutch to with the wrong values, and apply Christ-like values to everyone and everything in our lives. The necessity of this is illustrated in scripture in Mark 10 when a rich man approaches Jesus and asks how he might obtain eternal life. He already had earthly wealth — all the things we think important in this life — but the answer Jesus gives highlights the essential need to let go of our earthly value system and replace it with His value system:

“Looking at the man, Jesus felt genuine love for him. ‘There is still one thing you haven’t done,’ he told him. ‘Go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me,'” Mark 10:21.

We really do not begin to follow Christ in earnest until we empty ourselves of worldly values and begin to apply Christ’s thinking and values to everything in our lives. A disciple of Jesus cannot have their own value system!

It is Jesus Christ himself who is our very source of joy!

“You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever,” Psalm 16:11.

“God gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy to those who please him. But if a sinner becomes wealthy, God takes the wealth away and gives it to those who please him. This, too, is meaningless — like chasing the wind,” Ecclesiastes 2:26.

“You have given me greater joy than those who have abundant harvests of grain and new wine,” Psalm 4:7.

“Light shines on the godly, and joy on those whose hearts are right,” Psalm 97:11.

“I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!” John 15:11.

“You love him even though you have never seen him. Though you do not see him now, you trust him; and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible joy,” 1 Peter 1:8.

Is your life filled with, and fulfilled by, the joy of Christ?

Scotty