September 13, 2022
Daily Devotion:
"The Highest Joy… "
Nehemiah 8:10
New International Version
10 Nehemiah said, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”
You'd think fasting would be more appropriate than feasting, wouldn't you? Upon hearing the law of Moses being read, the Jews must surely have been struck by how far they had strayed from its commands. Yet They were told not to grieve, but rather to celebrate! Did God not want them to grieve over their sin? Are you and I not to grieve over our own? Maybe the answer lies in the genuineness of their anguish. Had they not grieved at the hearing of the law, surely they would not have been told to celebrate. But because they did sincerely weep and mourn, the surprising message was to wipe away their tears and celebrate the day of the Lord! What they needed at that point was not more self-flagellation, but experiencing the joy of God's Forgiveness and grace. By comparison how do you and I react to sin? Are we anguished by our sins, or are we perhaps far too cavalier about them? Do we celebrate God's Grace and forgiveness all too quickly, without first genuinely grieving over our many transgressions? Being obsessively morbid about our sins can't be spiritually healthy, but when was the last time we even wept about them? Sure, we sometimes weep at the consequences of our sin, but rarely do we bathe the sins themselves in penitent tears. Could this possibly explain why we often do not feel the sense of joy we otherwise might when we assemble to celebrate the day of the Lord? The irony of spiritual celebration is that the highest joy can only follow the deepest anguish.
The disturbing question is: If My worship experience is less than ecstatic, could it be that I have robbed myself of joy by failing to grasp the seriousness of the sin from which I have been saved?
