Galatians 5:22 says that joy is an aspect of the fruit of the Spirit. It is not that Christians always get what they want or don’t face hard times. In the midst of troubles, the joy of the Lord overwhelms it all. In Nehemiah 8, the nation was in a time of revival that began when Ezra read the Scriptures to the people, and taught them what it meant. The Lord was moving mightily. Nehemiah 8:10 says that the joy of the Lord is our strength. What is this joy that overcomes our troubles and disappointments? In the last devotional, we saw that this joy springs from wholehearted commitment to the Lord (Nehemiah 8:9-11).
The next thing that is clear from the passage is that this joy springs from an understanding of God’s Word (Nehemiah 8:12). When they understood it, it did not merely bring them happy thoughts. The Word of God brought conviction of sin, but it brought the joy of knowing that God was speaking to them. For many years, you could travel for a thousand miles and hardly find one copy of God’s Word. Does your access to God’s Word result in sustained joy for you?
Jeremiah experienced great opposition. He was public enemy number one, and had nobody. Jeremiah 15:16 says that the Word of God was found and he ate it. Here is the idea of not just looking at it, not just allowing it to touch us, but taking it in, consuming it. We take it in for the purpose of spiritual good because we desperately need it for spiritual life. When Jeremiah had this kind of attitude toward the Word of God, he said that it was the joy and rejoicing of his heart. When all of the insufficient things are stripped away, we remember how sweet the Word of God really is.
In the midst of all of the discouraging events of life that go on every day, God infuses joy in the heart of the believer by the work of the Holy Spirit through the Word of God. To not take in God’s Word is to isolate yourself from God’s provision of joy.
