Got Joy?

Did you know that sapphires come in almost every color of the rainbow except red? And that the only reason they don't come in red is because when they are red, they are called rubies? And that the most valuable ones are a pinky-orange called padparadscha? Sapphires should be very clear. The depth of their color is not as important as their clarity. When the sapphire is clear, it can reflect the light better- there are no "inclusions" to muck up the glow. Then, with a fine sapphire, when it's cut just right, the light shines through it and bounces around and sparkles - like joy.

I say "like joy" because I've watched my middle son play with sparkly "treasures" since he was old enough to notice them. They enthrall him; he can't leave them alone. One Christmas I even bought him a prism with a solar powered motor that hangs in a window. When the sun hits it, it turns, bouncing its refracted lightbeams all over the kitchen. I don't know who enjoys it more, me or him, but joy is certainly a good word to describe it. Things like prisms and sapphires bring me great joy!

Joy is something that Christ promises us if we follow him. John 15 and 16 speak repeatedly of a joy that we will receive. A joy that no one will take from us. Jesus wishes us to be filled with joy. But is joy a word you can use - be honest now- to describe your life? I know that for years, it wasn't the first word I'd use... let me see... in fact, joy was somewhere pretty far down on the list. And joy that no one could rob from me? As Princess Mia would say, "SHUT UP!"

Well, I'm reading a book called Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell. In it, he's discussing the living, active nature of God's word. He says,

The Rabbis spoke of the text being like a gem with seventy faces, and each time you turn the gem, the light refracts differently, giving you a reflection you haven't seen before. And so we turn the text again and again because we keep seeing things we missed the time before.

I like the way he describes it.
I imagine turning the Word around in my hand, holding it up to the Light and seeing it all over again.
I imagine that no one can predict exactly how the Light will pierce it this time and exactly what the result will be.
I imagine reaching out to touch it but being touched by it instead;
changed;
filled with joy;
permanent joy.

I like knowing that God's word isn't some stale piece of paper that cannot move in and out of time with His people. I like knowing that when I read about David, I can see myself- whether it's in standing in faith against a giant or holding my head and crying out to a God I don't understand. How did God know that I would need stories of failure and redemption like Adam and Eve, and Abraham, and Moses, and David? Like Peter, and Paul? How did He know that thousands and thousands of years later, these stories would still inspire, guide, and instruct? Maybe a better question is why did He bother? Bother to make sure we had the stories?
Maybe He did it because He loves us.
Maybe because He's alive, and cares.
Maybe because all He wants for us is joy. That His joy would be complete in us and ours in Him. (John 15:10-12)

So don't believe for a minute that drudging through your day is all there is. Don't believe it's a freak of nature that sapphires make your heart sing. Don't believe for a minute that the Word is stale, or boring, or a history book, or that Sunday morning sermons and big new buildings are all there is to Christianity. Go out on a limb with me and read the Word with open eyes and let the Light refract it in a whole new way.

And be filled with joy.

Oh, and ask me about my sapphires sometime!