“What sorrow awaits you who say, ‘If only the day of the Lord were here!’ You have no idea what you are wishing for. That day will bring darkness, not light. In that day you will be like a man who runs from a lion – only to meet a bear. Escaping the bear, he leans his hand against a wall in his house – and he’s bitten by a snake. Yes, the day of the Lord will be dark and hopeless, without a ray of joy or hope.” (Amos 5:18-20 NLT)
Many today celebrate what grieves the heart of God. We express what we think is joy thinking we’re honoring God, when we’re only exalting ourselves and our wrong and distorted beliefs. These verses from Amos are not written to unbelievers, they were written to those whose twisted minds believed they were living for God.
In verses 21-24 Amos wrote under the inspiration of God: “I hate all your show and pretense – the hypocrisy of your religious assemblies. I will not accept your burnt offerings and grain offerings. I won’t even notice all your choice peace offerings. Away with your noisy hymns of praise! I will not listen to the music of your harps. Instead, I want to see a mighty flood of justice, an endless river of righteous living.”
As the late Tim Keller wrote: “The opposite of joy is not sadness. It’s hopelessness.” It’s like someone saying: “I wish I were dead!” Without Jesus, to die is to forfeit all hope and to cast your soul into a sea of darkness and hopelessness.
Joy isn’t the celebration of ourselves, it’s a byproduct of having the Spirit of God indwell us and living His life out through us. The only way to know if joy is alive in us is to give it away by living in a manner that renders glory and honor to Jesus. To know Jesus and to not share His life with those who are bound for hell is to hoard joy, and according to John Piper, “Hoarded joy rots.”
To rejoice in Jesus’ life alive in us without giving it away to those who are bound for hell is not only selfish, it’s hypocritical, with the result it dishonors the Lord. Joy isn’t an outward celebration of what’s happened to or for me, that’s gratitude. Joy is celebrating with the angels in heaven over one lost soul who finds their hope in Jesus’ forgiveness and new life (Luke 15:10).
Living for Jesus’ honor and fame isn’t about us, it’s all and only about Jesus. If we’re receiving praise and honor it’s misplaced, we don’t deserve it. Our honor will come from the lips of our Savior when we get home to heaven. Until then our goal is to so exalt Jesus that the very thought of us points people to the Cross.
Our joy will be complete when we’re walking the streets of heaven meeting the people who are there because of Christ’s life being lived out through us. We are conformed to the likeness of Jesus, not through our good works, but by faith alone in Christ alone. We are children of God by virtue of the faith we’re given, not by the faith we muster in and of ourselves.
Paul wrote in Ephesians 2:8-9: “God saved you by His grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.” Jesus is our Treasure! He’s the source of all joy!
Food for thought.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 
Ahh, but if only it was “the day of the blessed hope today”. That would be a much better day! Steve
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