阅读经文 

一群佛教学者考虑过一个沉重的问题，即佛陀——他们心目中至高无上的宁静与和谐的形象——是否曾经笑过。在仔细查阅了他们的圣书后，他们得出结论，佛陀确实可能至少有一次笑过。有些宗教缺乏对快乐的强调，但毫无疑问，基督徒们欣赏幽默、笑声和喜乐。为什么这样说呢？因为神本身就是喜乐的。

在尼希米记 八章十节中，我们被提醒：“主的喜乐是你们的力量”。而我喜欢西番雅书 三章十七节对神的描述：“耶和华……必因你欢欣喜乐……且因你喜乐而欢呼。”你能想像出神在想到你我的时候会喜乐欢呼吗？

当然，喜乐的最高境界是耶稣的降临。耶稣出生时，主的天使宣告：“我报给你们大喜的信息，是关乎万民的。”（参路 2:10）基督的降临带来救赎，这给世界带来了生机盎然的喜乐。

住在我们里面的圣灵，使父神和耶稣的喜乐成为我们自己的喜乐。我们不再需要到别处寻找喜乐。基督徒可以说：“我已经找到了！”

使徒保罗解释说，当我们有了主的喜乐，我们也就有了神的平安，也就是和平，这是我们明天要关注的果子。

A group of Buddhist scholars considered the weighty question of whether the Buddha, their figure of supreme serenity and harmony, ever laughed. After carefully checking their holy books, they concluded that indeed the Buddha may have smiled on at least one occasion. Some religions lack an emphasis on joy, but there should be no doubt that Christians appreciate humor, laughter, and joy. Why? Because God himself is joyful.

In Nehemiah 8:10 we are reminded, "The joy of the LORD is your strength." And I love the description of God in Zephaniah 3:17: "The LORD … will take great delight in you … [and] will rejoice over you with singing." Can you picture God singing for joy as he thinks about you and me?

Certainly the culmination of joy is the coming of Jesus. At Jesus' birth the angel of the Lord proclaims, "I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people" (Luke 2:10). Christ's coming to bring salvation has brought exuberant joy into the world.

The Holy Spirit, who lives in us, makes the joy of God and Jesus our own. There is no longer any need to search for joy. The Christian can say, "I have found it!"

The apostle Paul explains that when we have the joy of the Lord, we have the peace of God as well—and that is the fruit we will look at tomorrow.