Do You Have JOY?

Has anyone ever asked you this?

JOY means: Jesus first, Others second, and You third. 

It is an anonymous acronym that doubles as a quote. It’s cute, clever, and (blast the air horn) wrong—because you should never let anyone get between You and Jesus. This is not to say that Others are not important. They are. Jesus taught the importance of others in His famous teaching called the golden rule, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,” (Matt. 7:12).

But Jesus also said in Luke 14:26, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.” I wonder, was Jesus thinking of Adam when he said this? Adam ate right along with Eve from the forbidden tree, seemingly without hesitation. 

It’s conjecture on my part, but I think Adam remembered the penalty for eating the forbidden fruit before his first bite. He wasn’t deceived by the serpent as was Eve, but he still made the decision to eat with her. Why? Still conjecture, but I think it was a combination of two things.

First, he didn’t want her to be alone outside the garden while he remained inside. Second, he wanted to be with her even if it meant death. He chose his wife over God. He let her get between God and himself. It was a catastrophic decision, not only for himself but for all mankind. He never even stopped to ask the Lord what could be done before or after partaking.

Are we any different than Adam and Eve? We have all made decisions to place other people and other things between us and Jesus. Sometimes we place them ahead of Him. (Lord, have mercy.) When we come to our senses, we are able to see our foolishness. Whatever bad decisions we make, we must first hope they aren’t too disastrous. 

What to do? 

When we see our folly, it’s best to remember the parable of the Prodigal Son, Luke 15:11-32. When the son came to his senses he 1) stopped what he was doing, 2) left his situation, 3) put aside his pride and 4) returned to his father begging for mercy. This is something we can all do, in just four steps. 

Returning to our Heavenly Father is always an option no matter how deep a hole we have dug for ourselves. And when we see the love of the father in this parable, we see that Jesus taught we are always welcome home. Always.