Stir yourself up!

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I feel like the apostle Peter at the end of his life, as he wrote his second letter. Twice, he told his readers why he was writing to them. In the first chapter, he said, “I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder” (2 Pet. 1:13). Then, in the last chapter, he repeated it: “I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder.” (2 Pet. 3:1)

What Peter really means, and what I mean, by being “awakened” or “stirred up” is to feel some measure of the joy God intends for Christmas to bring. “Behold, I bring you good news of great joy” (Luke 2:10). Not small joy. Not modest joy. But “great joy.” If we don’t feel this when we ponder the incarnation of the Son of God, we need “awakening.” We need to be “stirred up.”

I have called Christmas “the dawning of indestructible joy” because the joy Jesus brought into the world was like no other kind in history. Once we have it, it cannot be destroyed. Jesus said, “No one will take your joy from you” (John 16:22).

The joy that Jesus came to bring is from outside this world. It is Jesus's joy in God the Father—which he has had from all eternity and will have forever. There is no greater joy than the joy that God has in God because God is the most tremendous object of joy, and God has the most extraordinary powers to enjoy.

Jesus said, “I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full” (John 15:11). His joy was the very joy of God. He promises to put that in us. That is what the Holy Spirit does. He pours out the love of God in our hearts (Rom. 5:5), and with it the joy of God in God. “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy . . . .” (Gal. 5:22). This is “great joy.” And it cannot be taken away. It is indestructible.

Ah, but it can go to sleep. Peter says, “I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder” (2 Pet. 1:13). Yes. It is very correct. Because, oh, how wrong, how sad, when we stand before great wonders and feel nothing. It is right, therefore, that he and I write to awaken and stir up our affections for the greatest wonder of all: the arrival and the work and the person of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, in this world.

May the Spirit of God open your eyes afresh to the glories of Christ and give you a new taste of your indestructible joy!

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