Written by Pastor Jack Wellman– Billy Sunday
A Source of Strength
Nehemiah wrote, “The joy of the Lord is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10). If you know anyone who has a lot of joy, you’d have to say it’s one of their strengths. I used to work with a lady who lived out her faith. When everything at the office was falling apart at the seams, she was calm, cool, and collected and helped us through many crises we had at work. Deadlines can make the best of friends turn on one another, but this lady was a peacemaker. Thus, she was a source of strength to the morale of the office.
A Joyful Salvation
In the great psalm of repentance, written by a broken David, who had committed adultery and conspiracy to commit murder, being the man behind the murder of Bathsheba’s husband, Uriah, he finally repented and said, “Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit” (Psalm 51:12). He didn’t say, “Restore to me my salvation” but “Restore to me the joy of your salvation.” When we’re living in sin, our joy leaks out because we can’t be sinning and have joy at the same time.
A Cause for Joy
Our worship leader has a lot of joy, which usually spills out during worship music. However, he would argue that he’s being biblical; and he’s right, as the psalmist wrote, “Let those who delight in my righteousness shout for joy and be glad and say evermore, ‘Great is the Lord, who delights in the welfare of his servant’ ” (Psalm 35:27), so let us “go to the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy, and I will praise you with the lyre, O God, my God” (Psalm 43:4). You don’t have to convince our song leader. He has “exceeding” joy.
A Leak in Your Life
If you don’t have joy, then you’re not utilizing an available source of strength. And if you don’t have any joy in your salvation, you don’t realize that we should be the most joyful people on the planet because of what Christ has done. I know; I’ve been there, too. A simple evaluation of the many things we’ve been blessed with, not overlooking our salvation (John 3:16), should prove to us that we should be so busy being thankful, we don’t have time to leak.
Conclusion
Billy Sunday was the Billy Graham of his day. He said, “If you have no joy, there’s a leak in your Christianity somewhere.” And he’s right. We lose a source of strength and we lose our joy in our salvation because we don’t realize how much we have been given. The Word of God can stop those leaks. More than that, it can fill you up with the Bread of Life so that you’ll be spilling over Christ all around you.
