My Secret Sin

So I’m not trying to construct a perfect theological definition but we could say that sin is disobeying God, right? And personally, because I love God, I’m into not sinning. That really matters to me. But through today’s reading (Psalms 65, 66, 67) I realized a way I regularly sin, but have been kind of unaware.

If you read the three psalms for today, you’ll notice that one of the themes is joy. There are songs of joy, shouting for joy, and rejoicing because of what God’s done in the past. It made me wonder, so I looked it up, did you know the word “joy” appears 242 times in the Bible, and “rejoice” does another 156? We’re commanded to “be joyful always,” and to “rejoice in the Lord always.” In fact, and perhaps most interestingly, in one verse only three words are chosen to sum up what the kingdom of God is all about, and one of them is joy.

So…I would say that I’m into not sinning, but I would not say that I’m especially joyful. Fun? Yes. Full of joy and rejoicing? Not so much. Always? Definitely not.

I wonder if anything would change if I considered joy not just something I’d like to have, but something that it’s a sin for me not to have? I think I’ll try it…