March 13

“In that some hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit.” Luke 10:21

We read only once in the Gospels about the Lord Jesus rejoicing, so it should be easy for us to learn something from this passage. It seemed as though he had failed in his ministry to these cities of Galilee, and yet he rejoiced in spirit, His joy clearly had nothing to do with circumstances, but was only gladness that the Father was doing what seemed good to him. He rejoiced, not in the conscious success of his own work, but just in the will of the Father.

We are told that the joy of the Lord is our strength. It is this joy which upholds us; not that we have to seek to be joyful in imitation of Jesus, but that the very joy which he had is to be ours also, Of course in this life things around us will still cause us sadness. but is it not true that if we lose our joy we lose our strength? We must learn to live by his joy, which means rejoicing in our Father’s good pleasure.