“And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.” (Rev. 22:12)
All of us who have been born-again know the foundation of our reward from Genesis 15:1b,
“I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.”
Every one of us who have been crucified with Christ long for the days of the fulfillment of the promise of Psalm 16:11, “Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.”
Many of us know John 15:11, “These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.”
But how many of us let external circumstances, if even temporarily, hinder that joy, how many have confused happiness here with that fulness of joy?
It is rare not to see a smiling face on one who has been saved by grace through faith, but how many times is that smile forced, how many times is it placed there because those whom you consider your brothers and sisters in Christ expect it to be there.
“Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.” (Gal. 6:2)
Most will believe you have no burdens, no pressing matters of the soul if you keep that smile there.
“Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” (James 5:16)
Why would you confess your faults to those you will not allow to bear your burdens with you?
Here is the most traveled path of Christianity today, smiles, hugs and handshakes with friendly conversations before and after the sermon, but then, when it becomes too much to bear alone, they will request a private meeting with the pastor and ask him to keep what they are about to reveal private. They have lost the ability to see the rewards here, they have taken the joy of their soul and attempted to replace it with a continuing happiness, but beyond that, they have decided not to trust those whom they call their brothers and sisters in Christ.
As such they become, for lack of a better word, depressed in their spirit, and have nothing left to look forward to but the rewards of heaven.
Contemplate this question, would Job have died in joy if he would have died on that dunghill? Was his joy increased when he received seven times more than he once had? Was Lazarus filled with joy at the rich man’s gate? How much more joy can a person experience than to hear the Most High say to them, “I have chosen you as one of my own to spend eternity with me in my Kingdom.”
“Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.” (Phil. 4:11)
To know joy is to be content where you are at, with the knowledge and assurance that your Father in heaven has placed you there.
I repeat myself again, “No matter the circumstances or the possible consequences to ourselves.” If you believe being happy is being joyful, you do not know the joy our Savior was speaking about.
Do you lose your joy when one you love dies in their sins? When all is removed from you, when you are despised and rejected by those you meet, when everything seems to be going the opposite of what you envisioned?
“And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.” (John 10:28)
No one, not one thing, can ever remove your joy, but you can mistake it for happiness, and that would be a mistake.
The world is going to try to interrupt you, our adversary is going to do all he is allowed to do to keep you in a state of despair, watch for these, but neither can remove your joy in the Lord from you, but you can, if you look at it in that mistaken way, as happiness.
Can you do that? Can you see your joy in the valley of the shadow of death? Can you be joyful when your world collapses around you?
Your reward is with you now, and more are waiting.
