Please read John 16:20-24
“It would seem that Our Lord
finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures,
fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us,
like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he
cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far
too easily pleased.” -C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory
“ A wild duck was flying
northward with his mates across Europe during the springtime. En route, he happened to land in a barnyard
in Denmark, where he quickly made friends with the tame ducks that lived there.
The wild duck enjoyed the corn and fresh water. He decided to stay for an hour,
then for a day, then for a week, and finally, for a month. At the end of that
time, he contemplated flying to join his friends in the vast Northland, but he
had begun to enjoy the safety of the barnyard, and the tame ducks had made him
feel so welcome. So he stayed for the summer. One autumn day, when his wild
mates were flying south, he heard their quacking. It stirred him with delight,
and he enthusiastically flapped his wings and rose into the air to join them.
Much to his dismay, he found that he could rise no higher than the eaves of the
barn. As he waddled back to the safety of the barnyard, he muttered to himself,
“I’m satisfied here, I have plenty of food, and the area is good. Why should I
leave?” So, he spent the winter on the farm. In the spring, when the wild ducks
flew overhead again, he felt a strange stirring within his breast, but he did
not even try to fly up to meet them. When they returned in the fall, they again
invited him to rejoin them, but this time, the duck did not even notice them.
There was no stirring within his breast. He simply kept on eating corn, which
made him fat.” A parable by Soren Kierkegaard
Every human wants
joy or at least happiness in his or her life. People look for Joy in
prestigious college degrees, jobs, relationships, etc., and continue in those
situations/relationships hoping that one-day joy will pop up. The sad part is
while God created you and me for a life of Joy in Jesus, we settle for stuff
that gives us fleeting joy.
So
how do we get this joy? When you and I value Jesus’ promise of his presence (John
16:22) – right now he resides in us and one-day he will be with us forever. King David
teaches this in when sings, “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence
there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures
forevermore.” (Psalm 16:11)
Next, we have to
ask for what really matters for us. You and I should be focusing on Christ’s joy and ask for what truly matters (John
16:24) for the objective of our lives is “ask and …. receive" the right
thing.
David tells us the same (Psalm 5:11, 51:12).
Dear Jesus you created me to soar, but I constantly
shift my focus on things that give me temporary pleasure and then grief. I
thank you for your patience towards this prodigal fool. Amen.