Down in My Heart

I’ve got the joy, joy, joy, joy, down in my heart!

   Where?

Down in my heart!

   Where?

Down in my heart!

This popular children’s worship song is most likely known to most (if not all) of us. We used to sing it when we were kids and most of the time we may not have even stopped to think about the words we were singing, but rather thinking about how loud we could shout, “WHERE?!”

But when we think about these words, and the meaning behind them, we should take pause and think about what we are singing. We are singing about the Joy of the Lord! We sing that we have the joy of the Lord in our hearts…deep down inside. But here’s the problem: most of us live as if the joy, joy, joy, joy was down in the gutter, not in our hearts. We sulk, we worry, we pine, we fret, and we are anxious, nervous and just plain grumpy at times. God’s word commands us in Philippians 4:6 to not be anxious about ANYTHING. And yes, friends, it is a command.

So what are you doing today to make joy a part of your life? Are you listening to the voices of the world that are telling you to fear, fret and freeze? Or are you listening to the voice of Jesus saying, “I’m here, I will always be here, and I will never leave you.”

Please understand that I know we live in a world of perilous times. We are surrounded by sin on every side and there is little to nothing we feel we can do about it. But to listen to those voices that tell us to take worry as our own and hold it tight is to miss the really joy and blessing that God has for our lives.

So choose today to be joyful. And you will see amazing things happen.

And we’ll see you on Sunday!