Hello and welcome to Enbolden, living a bold Christian life. I'm Chris Shutter, an ordinary Christian living with and learning about an extraordinary God. Thank you for joining me on spending 30 days of praising God. Today's praise was inspired by Psalm 4-7.
You have put more joy in my heart than they have when they're grain and wine abound. Have you ever ridden on a carousel where the operator at some point drops down a metal arm towards the writers and that little brass ring drops toward its end? The writers on the outside stretch and strive to grasp that brass ring. And the prize?
A free ride to the one person who can attain that ring. I think that's how I was looking at joy for many years. Not only from a grasping and striving point of view, but from a scarcity mindset. There's only one ring and lots of writers.
You have to be on one of the outside animals to even have a chance to get that ring. And once that ring is taken by a writer, your chance is gone. I searched in earnest for many years for joy. How to attain it and how to hold onto it.
And what I discovered is that joy, freely given and abundance by God, is right in front of me for the taking. Praise God that His joy, unlike the joy the world offers, comes freely and is never ending. It is available to all. In the carousel world, we spin around and around.
We can choose that outer seat or even one of the animals constantly moving up and down and never finding rest. But how about instead we pick one of those colorful, stable sleds that are in the middle or towards the center. And sitting there on the bench as we take our seat is a replenishing bucket full of shiny joy rings. Not just one free ride, but endless opportunities for laughter and cooling breezes hitting our face as we go round and round.
You see, God's joy is available to everyone, not just the chosen few. It's there for the taking when we sit nestled in the promises and gifts of His holy word. We pick up a ring from the bucket each time and hand it to the operator saying, let's ride. All the while we watch the outer edge riders stretching for the measly gifts of the world.
The thing about riding a carousel is when we jump on and we carefully pick which animal or sleigh to ride. And we're drawn to the exciting and the colorful and to the chance to grasp that ring. Isn't that like the world? The bells and whistles of the flesh pull us to stretch for even more, to search for a bigger and better brass ring.
But God says, come and rest, and I will fill your bucket overflowing with joy. All we need to do is choose Him. Have a joy filled day. I'd love to hear from you and find out more about how you are living out your bold Christian line.
You can find me on Instagram at embolden minus the O or at my blog at embolden.net.