Our theme for this month: “Being a virtuous person”
Our Bible verse for today: “Do not grieve, because the joy of the Lord is your strength.” Nehemiah 8:10 (CSB)
Our thought for today: “Joy is a virtue”
The Jews in Jerusalem in Nehemiah’s day were among those who had lived in exile in Babylon, but they had been allowed by the king to return to Jerusalem and to begin rebuilding the city. It was a huge task because the temple, the city, and the walls around the city were in ruins.
After many years of hard labor a new temple was built, but it didn’t begin to match the temple of Solomon which had been destroyed. Then the city was cleaned up a bit and partially rebuilt, but it still was not repopulated. And then finally the walls around the city were rebuilt. However the Jews had been opposed every step of the way and at this point they were still surrounded by enemies who sought their destruction.
It was hard living. But Nehemiah gathered the people together and led them in a great worship celebration to dedicate the newly restored walls and to praise God for all he had done. As part of the celebration the Book of The Law of God was read and as it was, the people were reminded all over again about the great sins the nation had committed that led to the terrible destruction and devastation that they were now working so hard to recover from. And so they wept in remorse and regret.
But Nehemiah commanded them not to weep or grieve. Instead they were to find their joy in the Lord. He reminded them that the joy of the Lord is a source of strength for them.
The Apostle Paul wrote something similar to the Christians in Rome. They were enduring hard times and persecution too so he wrote in Romans 15:13, “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you believe, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
There’s a lesson in this for us. Joy is a virtue and it comes to us from God when we look to Him rather than at circumstances. One of the reasons Nehemiah had the people gathered together like that was so that they could worship, celebrate, lift-up and encourage one another. Their common sense of joy would be infectious and would spread among them.
That’s also why we gather in our local churches for worship. When we’re together like that we can share the joy of the Lord. Life is often hard. We need the sense of refuge and renewal that comes from gathering with God’s people in worshipful celebration.
I encourage you to attend church this weekend. If you don’t have a home church, then please visit with us at Oak Hill Baptist. Sunday school is at 9:00, worship is at 10:00, and the evening service begins at 6:00.
Joy is a virtue that is experienced and shared by God’s people. We would be happy to share the joy of the Lord with you.
Oak Hill Baptist Church