Verse of the Day for December 1

The order of events matters here. The people heard the law read aloud, and all the people wept. They were not wrong to weep. They had just understood how far they had drifted.

Then the leaders told them to stop. Not because tears were bad, but because the day was holy, and holy days in Israel were feasts. Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet. Joy was handed to them as an instruction while their faces were still wet.

That is the surprise. Nobody waited for them to feel ready. The joy came first as something to do, a meal to eat and a plate to send, and the feeling was left to catch up.

Notice whose joy it is, too. the joy of the LORD is your strength. Not your joy in the Lord, which comes and goes, but his own gladness over his people, which holds you up when yours has run out.

So if this morning finds you heavy, do one joyful thing anyway. Cook for someone. Send a portion to the neighbour in the next flat who has nothing prepared. Let the feeling arrive later, the way it did in Jerusalem.

You do not need to feel glad in order to obey gladness.

Somebody near you has nothing prepared today, and that is your portion to send.