Friday,
June 23, 2023
Every time I think
of you, I give thanks to my God. Whenever I pray, I make
my requests for all of you with joy, for you have been my partners in spreading
the Good News about Christ from the time you first heard it until now. And
I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his
work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns. Philippians
1:3-6
The classic poem Casey At the Bat[1] tells the story of Mudville, a little town at the turn of the 20th century, where baseball is everything. The Mudville team is losing by two runs, with two outs, and everyone is dejected. People start leaving the stands.
There is little hope because two of the worst players are scheduled to bat
next; certainly one of them will make the last out. But, against all odds, both get a hit, and
are safely on base. They represent runs
that will tie the score, and now it is the turn at bat for the local baseball
hero and legend, The Mighty Casey!
With every confidence in their man, the people anxiously await Casey’s
heroics. But he lets the first two
pitches go by without so much as a wave of his bat. The next pitch will tell all. An out would be unthinkable with Casey;
certainly it will be a home run and a win for Mudville. The scene is set…two outs, two on, two runs
behind…One pitch will create happiness, joy unrestrained….or…
they saw his muscles strain,
and they knew that Casey wouldn't let
that ball go by again.
The sneer is gone from Casey's lip,
his teeth are clenched in hate;
He pounds with cruel violence his bat upon the plate.
And now the pitcher holds the ball, and now he lets it go,
and now the air is shattered by the force of Casey's blow.
Oh, somewhere in this favored land the sun is shining bright;
the band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light,
and somewhere men are laughing, and somewhere children shout;
But there is no joy in Mudville –mighty Casey has
struck out.
If you ask 100 people what it means to have “joy” you might get about two-billion different viewpoints, everything from Rocky Road ice cream, to balancing the checkbook, or their dog’s latest cute trick. Most will give you some variation of the dictionary definition, the emotion evoked by well-being….[2] That is not far from what Paul said to the Philippian church when he wrote to say he’s praying with joy. The ancient Greek word he uses is χαρά (kharah'), calm delight[3]
Calmly-delighted in the inner man; content, having a sense
of well-being! No matter what storms may
blow around me, I am at peace inside!
That is so different from what we see in contemporary culture, where
circumstances – your health, friends, position, toys, and affluence –seem to
dictate whether you can experience joy, or ever be happy at all.
For You Today
Well, can you? Can you really
experience joy? We can all probably
agree on the definition of joy; the main question is: what produces it, and how can we have
joy in our everyday life?
Stay tuned…Apostle Paul is going to unfold the answers.
There are about 2,500 devotional
posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road Devotions
library. Go HERE to explore and dig a
little bit deeper.
Title Image:
via Pixabay.com Images without citation are in
public domain. Unless noted, Scripture
quoted from The New Living Translation©
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