Daily Devotions
I’m not surprised the people were weeping. How terrible it must have been, to hear the Word of God, maybe for the first time in your life … and to realize just how badly you’d messed up, badly enough for the whole nation to earn 70 years in exile!
And so they wept. But the leaders said to them, “Don’t cry. Celebrate. Because this is a holy day, and the joy of the Lord is your strength.”
What does that mean, “the joy of the Lord”? I suppose it could mean “the joy you have in the Lord.” Certainly we have that joy, even though we have sinned—because the Lord our God has come down from heaven to be our Savior, Jesus. He loves us that much, that He came to be one of us—and to suffer, die, and rise again, to take away all our sins. We don’t have to cry anymore, no matter what we’ve done, because Jesus has taken care of it. And so He Himself is our joy forever.
But we could take those words another way, too. They might mean “the joy that the Lord takes in you.” And that’s fair, too—because through Jesus’ work, we are not exiles anymore—we are children of God Himself, beloved and welcome forever in our Father’s house. When He looks at us, He is not angry. He calls us precious in His eyes, beloved, and honored (see Isaiah 43:4). Either way, we have reason to celebrate!
WE PRAY: Dear Lord, You are my joy. Make me Yours. Amen.
This Daily Devotion was written by Dr. Kari Vo.
Reflection Questions:
1. Who is someone you rejoice in? Why?
2. When God forgives you, how do you feel? Why?
3. How do you express your joy in the Lord in actions?