Pursued by Joy

Throwing a pile of vegetables, seafood and beef together to be cooked in concert to arrive done meant that things had to happen quickly. At the Mongolian Grill last night, cooking to raise funds for choir tour, I felt like the psalmist, "My cup overflows." The dinners kept coming, some meatless, some with an egg that if you squashed it just right it might break without leaving its shell as an extra ingredient.

Those of us working the grill saw a lot of food. God's promise to us is that in him we'll have way too much, not just of the regular things like grass and bread, but of the wonderful, luxurious things like shrimp and tofu; I know I'm over playing the image.
Psalm23 ends with "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life."

What if you and I are being stalked by joy? The psalm doesn't say "Surely I shall search for goodness and mercy;" it says "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me - shall pursue me, chase me, hunt me down, stalk me, search me out, track me down, find me" - and not just for a while, but "all the days of my life."

Wow, what a Valentine, love is tracking you down and it's going to find you. You are being stalked by Joy.

Wow, what a Valentine promise from God: it's not that goodness and mercy are hard to find and you'll spend your whole life looking for them - it's that they're on a perpetual mission to find you and they'll be pursuing you every day of your life.

Last night we were pursued by vegetables and shrimp and cubes of tofu and beef, and most of all a chance to raise some money for choir tour. Our cups ran over. A reminder that I can't escape God's relentless tenderness, try as I might.

Valentines Day will soon be upon us. What version of faith are we showing to family, friends, neighbors, colleagues, clients, and the world in general? Are they seeing a religion of commandments, of discipline, guilt, and shame? Or are they seeing joy?

There's a place for the commandments. They're for guiding you to the joy. But the world needs to see the joy. The world needs to see the joy in you. Does everyone who encounters you soon realize that God is fundamentally about joy? These are the joys God wants for you. And what response does God want from you? Believe them. Share them. Enjoy them. Like cooking up dinner at the Mongolian Grill. What a blast. What a joy.