Rejoice Always!
I had an awesome ponytail today.
"Wow, Leslie is so spiritual. So Godly. So mature." I know that's what you're thinking right now. :)
But seriously, a good ponytail is tricky. Especially when your hair is plain and straight and brown and long and boring like mine. Ponytails are a necessity to keep your hair out of your face. But rarely are they cute.
Today's ponytail was the exception. It was awesome.
So when I saw the ponytail, I couldn't help but think of Philippians 4:4, which says, "Rejoice in the LORD always. I will say it again, rejoice!"
And I rejoiced--in the Lord, of course--over my ponytail.
I'm not really kidding. I had a good 30-second conversation with God, praising Him for the ponytail. It was a true blessing on my day.
So I started to wonder what the word rejoice really means in Greek. I looked it up in my concordance and the definition is this:
"to rejoice, be glad, delighted; (as a greeting) Hail! Greetings!"
Let's start with the first half of that definition: the English definition of rejoice is "to feel or show great joy or delight." So joy is the emotion; rejoicing is the expression, whether it's inside or outside. (If I had acted outwardly about my ponytail as I felt inwardly, my husband may have called the loony bin on me.)
The second half is how you might greet someone. I don't typically see a friend walking around and yell, "Hail!" or "Greetings!" but I might start :) In our contemporary culture, it might be, "Hey!" when you see a friend that you didn't expect to see or haven't seen in a long time. You rejoice when you recognize them.
And we rejoice when we recognize the presence of Christ in our lives. Even in a ponytail.
So we are called to rejoice in the Lord.
Because He gave me the hair and the brush. Because He woke me up this morning able to walk and breathe and smile and love. Because I have food to eat, a house to live in, clothes to wear, water to bathe, and heat to protect me from the frigid Tennessee winters. (Well, at least in 2015).
One little act of rejoicing leads to a heart full of rejoicing. It's contagious within my own life. If I'm to the point where I can rejoice over a ponytail, I can surely rejoice over my kids, my family, my friends, and my husband who may or may not think I'm crazy.
Rejoice. In the Lord.
ALWAYS.
The Greek word for always is defined like this: "always, at all times, forever."
So I'm to rejoice in the Lord continually. Every day, in every event, in every conversation, every thought, every moment. I live and move and have my being in Him (Acts 17:28), so He is on my mind at all times. So I am rejoicing in Him and who He is and what He has done for me and every description I can find of Him in Scripture.
Because we're going to do this forever.
Heaven will be anything but boring, because we'll be rejoicing in Him eternally, knowing Him fully in every way.
So today was practice for eternity.
"Rejoice in the Lord forever. I will say it again, rejoice!"
I don't normally rejoice in a ponytail. Or a breakfast. Or my dog. But I want to.
Because I love how the rejoicing affected my attitude all day today.
And it will change yours, too.
Because rejoicing always is kingdom-living. God-focused-living. Heaven-living.
Join me!
#RejoiceAlways
@leslienotebook
And PLEASE subscribe by email! Put your email address in the box on the top right.
myleslienotebook@gmail.com
I will be rejoicing as I see what makes you rejoice :)
"Wow, Leslie is so spiritual. So Godly. So mature." I know that's what you're thinking right now. :)
But seriously, a good ponytail is tricky. Especially when your hair is plain and straight and brown and long and boring like mine. Ponytails are a necessity to keep your hair out of your face. But rarely are they cute.
Today's ponytail was the exception. It was awesome.
So when I saw the ponytail, I couldn't help but think of Philippians 4:4, which says, "Rejoice in the LORD always. I will say it again, rejoice!"
And I rejoiced--in the Lord, of course--over my ponytail.
I'm not really kidding. I had a good 30-second conversation with God, praising Him for the ponytail. It was a true blessing on my day.
So I started to wonder what the word rejoice really means in Greek. I looked it up in my concordance and the definition is this:
"to rejoice, be glad, delighted; (as a greeting) Hail! Greetings!"
Let's start with the first half of that definition: the English definition of rejoice is "to feel or show great joy or delight." So joy is the emotion; rejoicing is the expression, whether it's inside or outside. (If I had acted outwardly about my ponytail as I felt inwardly, my husband may have called the loony bin on me.)
The second half is how you might greet someone. I don't typically see a friend walking around and yell, "Hail!" or "Greetings!" but I might start :) In our contemporary culture, it might be, "Hey!" when you see a friend that you didn't expect to see or haven't seen in a long time. You rejoice when you recognize them.
And we rejoice when we recognize the presence of Christ in our lives. Even in a ponytail.
So we are called to rejoice in the Lord.
Because He gave me the hair and the brush. Because He woke me up this morning able to walk and breathe and smile and love. Because I have food to eat, a house to live in, clothes to wear, water to bathe, and heat to protect me from the frigid Tennessee winters. (Well, at least in 2015).
One little act of rejoicing leads to a heart full of rejoicing. It's contagious within my own life. If I'm to the point where I can rejoice over a ponytail, I can surely rejoice over my kids, my family, my friends, and my husband who may or may not think I'm crazy.
Rejoice. In the Lord.
ALWAYS.
The Greek word for always is defined like this: "always, at all times, forever."
So I'm to rejoice in the Lord continually. Every day, in every event, in every conversation, every thought, every moment. I live and move and have my being in Him (Acts 17:28), so He is on my mind at all times. So I am rejoicing in Him and who He is and what He has done for me and every description I can find of Him in Scripture.
Because we're going to do this forever.
Heaven will be anything but boring, because we'll be rejoicing in Him eternally, knowing Him fully in every way.
So today was practice for eternity.
"Rejoice in the Lord forever. I will say it again, rejoice!"
I don't normally rejoice in a ponytail. Or a breakfast. Or my dog. But I want to.
Because I love how the rejoicing affected my attitude all day today.
And it will change yours, too.
Because rejoicing always is kingdom-living. God-focused-living. Heaven-living.
Join me!
#RejoiceAlways
@leslienotebook
And PLEASE subscribe by email! Put your email address in the box on the top right.
myleslienotebook@gmail.com
I will be rejoicing as I see what makes you rejoice :)
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