Choosing joy

Bill at Out of the Bloo looks at Philippians 3:1 and the command to rejoice.

Joy . . . is the delighted response - a choice, mind you - of the heart when the fact of one's own unworthiness is uncovered, when the smallness of who we are compared to the Lord is made clear to our minds, and we realize the utter grace with which each breath is drawn. We are not destroyed! In fact, if we know Christ, we are beloved children of the King of the Universe, adopted and redeemed.

It's when we place that in towering perspective against our own small and petty trials, claims, and conceits that complaints die away and joy takes root.

Joy is a practice. And when life comes crashing down, and our world crumbles around us, it's a choice we can still make, if we have trained our hearts to sing its song.

Beautifully said.