Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Developing a heart that rejoices - Part 2

In part 2 we will look at a principal of rejoicing that God Himself practices. I'll sum up the principal in my own words and then we will find an example of it in the Bible. The principal is this:  Do what is good - Look upon those good actions - Rejoice in those good actions. Lets first look at a Bible verse in Genesis chapter 1.

Genesis 1:10
......10 God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good

We see this rejoicing  principle in the very first chapter of the Bible.  First God did something good. He created the dry ground and the seas.  Next He looks upon His actions and saw that it was good. So we see that God rejoiced in His good actions. This point is reinforced by it's repetition. It is stated six times in Genesis chapter 1 that God saw what He did was good. And one time He saw what He did was very good. 

Here is another scripture that makes practicing this principal a high priority. 
Ecclesiastes 2:24
24  There is nothing better for a man than to eat and drink and tell himself that his labor is good This also I have seen that it is from the hand of God.

Look at how much importance this verse places on telling ourselves that our labor is good. We are to do good actions and also engage in rejoicing-self-talk.We need to tell ourselves that what we have done is good. The verse tells us that this rejoicing-self-talk not only is a good thing but also that it is a high priority. 

Next it does not have to be prideful or sinful to do this. God does not sin. So if He practiced this principal then it is also good for us to practice it too. Also it should be noted that God did not wait till the work was all done to start rejoicing. He was rejoicing before creation was complete. We can be robbed of joy if we just won't be happy until we complete something. Enjoy the journey. Rejoice each day even when you haven't brought your work to completion yet. Then rejoice extra when you do bring the project to completion.

Scripture quotations taken from the "NASB" (www.lockman.org)

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