Much Joy

“So there was much joy in that city” (Acts 8:8).

Joy is an elusive commodity in our day, would you agree? Joy is something we all desire, yet often have a difficult time achieving. I wonder if the reason why we lack joy is because we don’t understand what true joy is, let alone look for it in the wrong places. It’s in that context that the words of Luke in Acts 8:8 caught my attention. Not only was there joy in the city he referred to, he said that there was much joy. I like that.

Now in reading about the “much joy” Luke referred to, a reasonable question relates to its source. In other words, what produced and sustained the joy Luke made mention of? Well, in order to answer that question, we must examine the preceding verses. So let’s do so for a moment.

A careful review of verses 5-8 suggests three reasons for their joy. In verse five we read that “Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ.” So reason number one for their joy was that they heard the message preached by Philip, salvation in Christ.

But there is more. Not only did they hear his message with their ears, the text tells us that they “paid attention to what was being said.” The phrase “paid attention” means that they brought his message near to their hearts. They devoted their thoughts to it. That signifies to me that what they heard with their ears made a difference to their hearts. Proclamation makes a difference when it penetrates the heart, which is what took place for them.

Finally, as was common throughout the book of Acts, effective proclamation was accompanied by external signs. In other words, they saw the power of God at work in the form of healing and other signs.

Now put those things together. Hearing Christ proclaimed, responding in faith and witnessing the power of God at work resulted in “much joy” in that city. How does that apply to you and me? Well, can you see that what brought them much joy works in the same manner in our day? What that says to me is that much joy is found in a right relationship with God that comes only through bringing the message of Christ near to our hearts as we respond in faith to His offer of salvation. As we do so, we will see the power of God at work as lives are transformed from spiritual death to spiritual life and vigor, which if you think about it is far more amazing than a paralyzed man walking again.

Are you looking for much joy? They found it in hearing and responding to the message of salvation in Christ. That’s the only place to find joy, “much joy” to be exact!