Articles
Rejoice in the Lord
Rejoice in the Lord
Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I will say, REJOICE! (4:4).
If you haven’t noticed, joy and rejoicing are a constant theme in Paul’s letter to the Philippians. Joy is found 7 times (1:4, 25; 2:2, 17, 18, 29; and 4:1). Rejoice is found 9 times in 7 verses (1:18; 2:17, 18, 28; 3:1; 4:4, 10).
Such joy in life doesn’t mean that there is no sorrow, for surely there is sorrow at the death of our loved ones, as well as other sorrowful happenings. Yet, while we sorrow, we don’t sorrow as the unbelievers for we sorrow WITH faith, knowledge, and hope that “blessed are they who die in the Lord.” Such joy comes from our confidence in Jesus and His promises for us. We are confident that HE IS ABLE to do what he promises. We are confident that He is FAITHFUL to do what He has promised.
In order to accomplish this command to rejoice always, we must have set our minds and hearts upon the goal of eternal life with Him. Don’t let life turn your heart from the goal.
Hugh DeLong
