What’s that thing that Emo always says? “Waar’s dit lekker? Hier’s dit lekker!” Meaning where are things good? It’s good right here!

People are under so much pressure. It’s as if all that is nice and enjoyable in life is missing all the time. The expectations of the world and also what we expect of ourselves put so much pressure on us.

At times like these we ask where are the good places because we want to go there. We are so tired of a life that’s not nice. We are tired of just putting food on the table. We are tired of all the routine. We are tired …

We want to be like when we were young. We want to taste that carefree life again. We want to bite into that freshly-baked farm bread covered in thick farm butter and homemade apricot jam, without having to worry that it will end up on the buttocks or around the middle.

We want to go to bed on a lovely summer’s evening with the doors and windows wide open, without being afraid that someone will come in the night and carry away our possessions one by one.

We want to live in peace again serving one another, where everyone doesn’t have to fight for a place in the sun. We want to eat apples again with the juice running down our chins, without being afraid that we’re eating from the tree in the middle of the garden.

We want to be happy again. We want to be really happy again. We want to taste real happiness again …

And here is a bit of good news – it’s available! Real happiness is waiting for each of us just around the corner. It is within reach. We just have to make it part of our lives:

²⁵ But whoever catches a glimpse of the revealed counsel of God—the free life!—even out of the corner of his eye, and sticks with it, is no distracted scatterbrain but a man or woman of action. That person will find delight and affirmation in the action.

But unfortunately, it’s not that simple. We can’t just sit around and real joy will jump out at us. We have to find the Word of God, find His arrangements of how to live life, and make the part of our lives. It is here that real joy starts bubbling up from you.

The original words that are translated as “stick with it” here mean that we will bend down close to something, to bend forward, to see something close-up. It’s like something that was far away and not clearly visible, but the closer you get, the clearer it becomes until you can see every word and are able to read it, so that it will come inside you, and become part of you.

In this race called life, we have to find daily stopping places where we can read the Word of God. That’s perfect. That’s the real answer for each of our lives. And it is only here that you will find real joy. The rest is just noise.

Scripture
James 1:22-27

Reflection
Do you need joy?
Do you believe that it is available in God’s Word?
Do you look and hear and listen and do as God’s Word says?

Prayer
Father, if there is one thing that I really, really need, it’s joy. I’m looking for it so hard, and yes, I know it’s to be found in Your Word and Your way for me. Help to find it. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.