9/26 Philippians 4:4

4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.


The Holy Spirit through Paul was not telling us to rejoice in our finances, our health, our relationships, or any other transitory thing. He commands us to rejoice in the Lord. Isn't it wonderful to know that the One who is of infinite worth will never leave or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5)? And because of His great worth and His love for us, He is the One in whom we should find our joy. All else is incomparably inferior as a source of joy.

We are commanded to rejoice in the Lord always, not just in times of worship or prayer. Christians should always have a deep abiding joy in the Lord. You may not be happy about a tragedy in your life, but you can still rejoice in the fact that our unchanging God who loves us will see us through and use the situation for our eternal good. Christians are the only ones who can have that deep joy in every circumstance of life.

When everything is going our way we say, "I am so blessed". But we are blessed all the time (Ephesians 1:3). We just need to open our spiritual eyes to the abundant spiritual blessings we are continually receiving, and then we can rejoice always. In case we didn't get the point, Paul repeated himself. "Rejoice!"

Consider: Count our physical blessings. Take time to count the many spiritual blessings we have in Christ Jesus.