Disclaimer: The sharing is pure from my personal view; therefore, please don’t take it to be absolute. Thanks.

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Last Sunday was a jubilant day because we had our very first baptism officiated by Rev. P. Lo for sister Yeung. It is a blessing and encouragement from God because He knows our endeavor – it has been quite a journey for most of us since January this year when we were called to start the current church.  Though I couldn’t say that our journey is same as Abram’s (Genesis 12:1); the unknown future, however, bears some similarities. God’s unfailing love and faithfulness undoubtedly have led us through many difficulties. We are joyous because we know He reigns over our church. This gives me an idea to share with you this week.

Frequently we may ask people, “Are you happy?” instead of “Are you joyful?”  Why? Presumably, there is a distinction between “happy快樂” and “joy喜樂” as I think it further. A while ago, I read an article and it has an interesting question, “What are 3 necessities for one to be happy (人需要有那 3 種東西才會快樂)?” I was curious about its answer. It states that for one to be happy he needs to have: something he can do, someone he can love, and something he can hope for. In other words, one can’t be happy if he can’t contribute (do something), can’t show his love and nothing he wants or is expecting in his life.

I remember my father used to tell me, “You have to study diligently in order to become a “useful” person in the future”. In his mind, I wouldn’t be of useful if I have no contribution (can’t do anything useful) to the society. Sometimes I would ask my son, “Why do you sit there, don’t you have anything to do?” “No, dad; and, I am bored”, he responded. It seems to me “nothing to do” gives him a feel of “uselessness” and he is bored. Of course, he is not happy either.

We all know that love is a tender affection for someone or something. A person who has no one he can show his love to is probably a dreadful thing in this world. From my observation, love would be the most powerful thing that sustains the stability of a family, a society, a country and the universe. We all need friends and families and love sustains them. One can’t be happy without someone he can love.

How about something to hope for? Most of us would be able to wait patiently if there is something we are expecting to get. It becomes meaningless and boring if there is no purpose for the waiting. Therefore, it comes to the question: “What are purpose / meaning of our life in this world? If life is meaningless and not worthy of waiting, then “happy” would be short too.

Just ponder it further, you may find that even with the 3 necessities, your happy feeling would still be temporary – as most of us have experienced. Then, the question would be “What is Joy”? C. S. Lewis wrote a devotional book called “The Joyful Christian”.  One of his 127 devotionals in the book is “Joy”. He called joy an esthetic experience and it is an unsatisfied desire which is itself more desirable than any other satisfaction. It is common to happiness and pleasure on “only” one thing – whoever has experienced it will want it again. It is a particular kind – the kind that we want – of unhappiness or grief. And, it is never in our power while pleasure often is. The net is it is “a desire”, “a good” and “a kind of love”; ultimately, it is “a person called Christian” per C. S. Lewis. This reminds me that a Christian is supposed to be “joyful” because we have one of the fruit of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22).

My dear brothers and sisters, the source of joy is from our Lord. There is NO reason that we are not joyful all the times – it is from within our heart. So, let me ask you the question again, “Are you joyful now?”