Pursue This Kind of Joy

"O afflicted one, storm-tossed and not comforted, behold, I will set your stones in antimony, and lay your foundations with sapphires. I will make your pinnacles of agate, your gates of carbuncles, and all your wall of precious stones.”Isaiah 54:11–12The ruined city is being rebuilt, not with brick and mortar, but with sapphires and precious stones. John takes up this theme of the city built with precious stones in Revelation 21—making it clear that Isaiah is talking about the New Jerusalem, the home of righteousness: “In righteousness you shall be established” (Isa. 54:14).Those who have endured such sorrow in Isaiah 54 find joy in God’s people, in God’s love and in God’s city. The fullness of this joy will be ours when Jesus Christ comes in power and glory. But in Christ, the beginning of this joy is yours already.You don’t have to be a barren woman or a deserted wife or live in a ruined city to experience this joy. Some single people have this joy and some single people do not. There are married people who have this joy and married people who don’t. There are businesspeople who have this joy and business people who don’t. Some poor people have this joy, while other poor people do not.Don’t wait for a disaster in your life to pursue this joy. Joy in Jesus Christ frees you to savour all other joys, and it strengthens you to face all other sorrows.What excuses have you been making for not having joy? Will you renew your pursuit of joy in Jesus Christ today?