Joy and the crowd . . .

As I sit here this morning I have a thousand things running through my mind and none of them are the normal cares and worries of the world.  The normal quiet of the house is interrupted by the sound of the heat running. The house was a bit cool this morning so I turned on the heat to knock the chill off.  To me quiet is different when it is cold outside, but maybe that's just me.  But that really doesn't have anything to do with what I am thinking about this morning.

Can you be filled with joy because of someone else's joy?  Most of us seek out happy people to be around.  I mean, none of us wants to be around someone who is always down and acts like the world is coming to an end.  We seek out happy people, but as I said earlier in the week, I think joy is more than happiness.

Let me give you an example of what I am talking about.  If you could watch college football game by watching nothing but the crowd, I'll bet that you could tell how well each team was playing by watching their fans collectively.  You could tell when big plays were being made by their team that they were pulling for and you could tell when mistakes were made.  The mood of the crowd is influence by the things that are happening on the field but also by what is happening in the crowd around a single fan.  There are people that seem a bit distracted by their phones these days.  I know that may seem a bit of a surprise to some but it is a real thing.  Now let's say a fan is paying more attention to social media than the ballgame. If the fans around that person cheer or boo, so will they.  They will simply ask what just happened or maybe they won't and just trust it was worthy of a reaction.
 
The question is, can the same be said about joy?  The scriptures say in John 15:11 “I have spoken these things to you so that My joy may be in you and your joy may be complete."  Before I go any further; you really need to read the context to get the fullness of the message from this piece of scripture.  With that being said; our joy is made complete (made full) by the joy of Christ.

Today, I will seek out His joy and see what kind of change that can bring in my life.  What about you?  These are just a few thoughts from a cluttered mind.  Have a blessed day.