This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it--Psalm 118:24 (ISV).
Through the psalmist, our God says it clearly: This is the day. This is the day to rejoice and be glad. This is the day of celebration.
Yet, many of us have postponed the celebration. We think tomorrow will be the day; that we can have joy somewhere down the road. Perhaps when we finish school. Or when we get married or have children or get a better job. When our debts are paid. When our problems are resolved. We spend our lives waiting for joy to come "some day."
Still others of us go through life thinking joy has already passed us by; that we’re reached the peak and now it's downhill from there. Joy is but a memory of what once was. So we become content to just coast through to the end.
Read that verse again. The psalmist doesn't say that tomorrow will be the day. He doesn’t opine that yesterday was the day. There is almost a radiance to his words: This is the day!
Although it seems like an oxymoron, celebration is a discipline. We must choose to live lives of joy and gladness. We must discipline ourselves to find reasons to celebrate every single day. It's not that difficult when you think about it. We have a Heavenly Father who loves us, who provides for us, who forgives us, who blesses us more than we deserve, who enjoys our company, who delights so much in us that He wants us to spend all eternity with Him.
So today, you can choose to dwell in the drudgery of a woe-is-me, doom-and-gloom, there's-nothing-to-get-excited-about mindset if you like. But not me. This is the day the Lord has made! I choose to rejoice! I choose to be glad in it! I choose to celebrate the fact that I am a beloved child of the Heavenly Father!
Now if you'll excuse me, I have a party to get to.
Through the psalmist, our God says it clearly: This is the day. This is the day to rejoice and be glad. This is the day of celebration.
Yet, many of us have postponed the celebration. We think tomorrow will be the day; that we can have joy somewhere down the road. Perhaps when we finish school. Or when we get married or have children or get a better job. When our debts are paid. When our problems are resolved. We spend our lives waiting for joy to come "some day."
Still others of us go through life thinking joy has already passed us by; that we’re reached the peak and now it's downhill from there. Joy is but a memory of what once was. So we become content to just coast through to the end.
Read that verse again. The psalmist doesn't say that tomorrow will be the day. He doesn’t opine that yesterday was the day. There is almost a radiance to his words: This is the day!
Although it seems like an oxymoron, celebration is a discipline. We must choose to live lives of joy and gladness. We must discipline ourselves to find reasons to celebrate every single day. It's not that difficult when you think about it. We have a Heavenly Father who loves us, who provides for us, who forgives us, who blesses us more than we deserve, who enjoys our company, who delights so much in us that He wants us to spend all eternity with Him.
So today, you can choose to dwell in the drudgery of a woe-is-me, doom-and-gloom, there's-nothing-to-get-excited-about mindset if you like. But not me. This is the day the Lord has made! I choose to rejoice! I choose to be glad in it! I choose to celebrate the fact that I am a beloved child of the Heavenly Father!
Now if you'll excuse me, I have a party to get to.
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