Joy

I watched The Bucket List for the nth time and it kind of made me ask myself the two questions Carter Chambers asked Edward Cole when they were up on a tomb in Egypt. The first question is this: Have you found the joy in your life? If I'd be asked the same question, my answer would be a resounding YES. The second question is: Has your life brought joy to others? Like Edward, I can't seem to really know the answer, or at least how to answer the question. Truthfully, at this moment, I feel like my answer would be "No, it hasn't."

This realization never failed to make me shed tears. It is painful to know that some people around you find their life uninteresting and that you can do nothing about it because you know for a fact that they are longing for something or perhaps someone that makes their life joyful and worth living. More painful because you have to admit that you are not included in the things that makes them feel their life is somewhat interesting. With this, I guess my answer to the first question would turn out to be wrong because joy, in its truest and purest sense is being able to be a blessing and joy to others, making them feel loved and important.

Confessing this, my attention was drawn to what this Christian anarchist said:

Joy can be real only if people look on their life as a service, and have a definite object in life outside themselves and their personal happiness. - Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy

Tolstoy believed that a true Christian strives for his spiritual perfection by following the Great Commandment of loving God and one's neighbor.

Henceforth, I understand that our joys must arise from yielding to fulfill God's great creative purpose and seeing it accomplished. We were born because of this. Thus, we can look forward to hearing the Lord say:

Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your Lord. -Matthew 25:21