Skip to main content

Joy in Things and Joy in God, by Pastor Charlie

By


Joy in Things and Joy in God

By Pastor Charlie


Have you ever been super excited to get some new thing? Have you ever noticed that when you get that thing, your joy starts out high but then quickly fades so that you soon find yourself thinking about the next new thing? Why does this happen to us? Augustine, the famed fifth century church leader, helps us understand. His words are a bit hard to read but it’ll be well worth the effort to do so. I encourage you to read slowly and carefully.

For there is this great difference between things temporal and things eternal, that a temporal object is valued more before we possess it, and begins to prove worthless the moment we attain it, because it does not satisfy the soul, which has its only true and sure resting-place in eternity. An eternal object, on the other hand, is loved with greater ardor when it is in possession than while it is still an object of desire, for no one in his longing for it can set a higher value on it than really belongs to it, so as to think it comparatively worthless when he finds it of less value than he thought. On the contrary, however high the value any man may set upon it when he is on his way to possess it, he will find it, when it comes into his possession, of higher value still (On Christian Doctrine, book 1, chapter 38). 

So the reason our joy begins to fade from the moment we get something new is because that thing cannot fill up the need for joy that’s deep inside our souls. Our need for joy is very deep and not easily satisfied, and those who try to satisfy it with temporal things will be sorely disappointed. And as one thing after another is shown not to satisfy their souls, their desire for joy will increase but their ability to have joy will actually decrease.

On the other hand, those who seek to satisfy their souls with eternal things find that the exact opposite dynamic comes into play. As Augustine so well said, the imagination of fellowship with Jesus is in truth less joyful than Jesus himself because Jesus himself is infinitely more glorious than our ability to imagine him. So those who seek their joy in God find that their actual joy, and their capacity for joy, incrementally increase overtime. They will of course suffer, and they will not always feel superficially happy, but over time their joy will increase and increase as they learn, one experience at a time, that God in all his glory is truly satisfying.

So the lesson for us is this—let us seek our joy in God. As we do, we’ll find that our joy in “things” actually increases because we’ll learn how to enjoy them without asking too much of them.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Secret of all Failure is our Failure in Secret Prayer

By
“We may be assured of this—the secret of all failure is our failure in secret prayer” (12). So writes the anonymous author of the classic little book on prayer entitled, The Kneeling Christian (Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids: 1971). He means that the reason we so often fall into sin or live in discouragement or fail to bear fruit is because we do not cling to God in Christ above all things. We do not diligently seek him or lean on him or plead with him or draw on his strength. We give ourselves to busyness over communion with God and in this way we seek to accomplish in our flesh what can only be accomplished in the power of the Spirit.  Giving first place to what our dear author calls “secret prayer” is indeed a key to the Spirit-filled life but let’s be clear: prayer is not magic, rather, it’s a relationship. It’s not as if we simply have to file requests with God, being careful to use just the right words so that we can get him to respond as we wish. God is not a vending m
Post a Comment
Read more

Deacons - How They Serve and Strengthen the Church (Part 1)

By
  One of the next important priorities for GCF is to establish deacons in the life of the church. On March 14, 2021 we were able to establish an elder team. Currently, we have a team of four elders overseeing the congregation of GCF.  However, there is more work to be done. I have come to see that establishing an elder team was the bare minimum that needed to happen for GCF to survive. I believe GCF now needs to turn our attention to raising up a team of qualified and willing deacons to serve the congregation so that it will not only survive but thrive.   I would like to begin a series of blogs on deacons to help us understand who they are and what they do in the life of the church.  In this blog let me provide three reasons why I think deacons should be near our top priority.  Number 1: It is Biblical. Paul instructs Timothy to install elders who will help him pastor the church. For whatever reason, it seems the churches in our circles treat the installment of elders as non-negotiable
Post a Comment
Read more

Does the Doctrine Divide? by Patience Griswold

By Anonymous
“Oh, I try not to talk about doctrine. It’s so divisive.” This is a sentiment that I’ve heard expressed, as well as implied, on many occasions, and one that raises the question, does doctrine divide? In answering this question, we must keep in mind a very important truth and that is that everyone holds to some sort of doctrine . “Doctrine” is defined as “a belief or set of beliefs held and taught by a church, political party, or other group.” Regardless of whether or not someone publicly holds to a statement of beliefs from a particular church, every Christian, by definition, holds to a particular set of beliefs. As Carl Trueman observes in his book The Creedal Imperative ,       [W]hile Christianity cannot be reduced to doctrine, to mere teaching, it cannot be meaningfully separated from it, either. Even the most basic claims, such as “Jesus is Lord,” carry clear doctrinal content that needs to be explicated in a world where, as we have noted before, every heretic has his text and n
Post a Comment
Read more