Colossians 3:16  Let the word of Christ dwell richly among you, in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another through psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs,  singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. (CSB)

Colossians 3:15-17  Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other. None of this going off and doing your own thing. And cultivate thankfulness. Let the Word of Christ—the Message—have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your lives. Instruct and direct one another using good common sense. And sing, sing your hearts out to God! Let every detail in your lives—words, actions, whatever—be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way. (MSG)

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Signs of joy include singing, dancing, and expressions of gratitude. You might say joy looks a lot like Christmas all year long. There are quite a few songs and stories promoting this attitude. 

How can we experience Christmas all year long? The Apostle Paul provides a simple outline in verse 16. He says, “Let the word of Christ dwell richly among you.” The Message paraphrases this idea by saying, “Let the Word of Christ—the Message—have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your lives.”

To experience the joy of the Lord, and to help others do the same, we need to know the God from whom it flows and the events and opportunities from which it springs. As we read and ponder God’s words of truth and life day by day, we gain an increasing measure of understanding of how joy emerges from simple pleasures and moments of beauty. Untimed peace and tiny tenderness contain outsized amounts of purest goodness. 

Rich truth requires expression. Teaching is good and helpful. Sermons well crafted and thoughtfully delivered challenge and instruct. Singing declares there is something right in our souls, in our world, and in our homes. Joyful songs say so much more than spoken words, no matter how elegantly delivered. Singing is evidence of a greater song, the song that sang our world into being, that wraps us in Godlight and Godlove. 

It is the song whose echo draws us toward the most beautiful music ever composed and yet to be performed. Our best efforts on this side of eternity are mere tuning exercises and breath practice compared to the overture of heaven. Joy helps us feel now what will then embrace us in pure perfection. 

Joy is evidence of more. It is a precursor to God’s good, better, and best. It is the promise of beauty yet unexplored and never exhausted. 

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I will live a life of settled joy in anticipation of endless beauty and unending delight.

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Our Father, teach us your truth birthed from the joy of your own heart. Give us joyful songs to express and share your unending goodness and kindness. Empower us to live lives of joy all year round. Amen.