Do you ever stop to ponder some of the things you think about when you're in the midst of some of the tiniest daily tasks, and why? I do! Sometimes, it's simply amazing. Other times, interesting... Or laughable.
This time, I was bringing a pan of water to a boil, and it triggered a memory I hadn't thought about in a long while. It was of me in my younger days when my mom would ask me to boil water for her. I would stand by and watch it until it did, and when the water was finally at a rapid, hard boil, I would sing a favorite childhood song:
- It's bubbling! It's bubbling!
- It's bubbling in my soul!
- There's singing and laughing, (ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!)
- Since Jesus made me whole.
- Folks don't understand it,
- Nor can I keep it quiet.
- It's bubbling, bubbling, bubbling, bubbling -
- Bubbling day and night!
Even now, I can't help but smile when I hear the song. It's such a fun little song, and so very true!
It's bubbling day and night! The Christian life really is like that: a picture of true joy. When we trust Jesus to be our Saviour, He gives us a deep inner joy, an abiding joy. No matter what the circumstances may be, true joy still floods our soul day and night because it is not dependent upon the world around us. It is dependent upon one thing: our relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. And there's no better place to be than when we are allowing the Lord to guide us, following His leading, walking in His will.
Folks don't understand it. This, too, is true. Those who don't know Jesus as their personal Saviour, don't know what "all the fuss is about". The world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. (I John 3:1b) Because the world knows Him not, our joy is an anomaly. So are we... and that's okay. Why? Because we have Jesus as our Saviour and no one can take that joy away.
Nor can I keep it quiet! When we are excited about something, it's so easy to tell people about it. In fact, we can't wait to share it with someone else. Salvation and the joy thereof is something to be excited about, something that ought to thrill our souls so that we can't keep quiet! Even if those around us don't understand it, we can still share with others. Our testimony and our personal joy can be what the Lord uses to draw others to Himself because they see a difference in us.
Do we manage to keep quiet, or is our joy in the Lord so precious to us that we can't wait to share it with others? Do we love the Christian life so much that we want the world to know the saving grace of Jesus, too? Do we love Jesus that much? He loved us so much that He willingly endured the cross, and I hope that we, as Christians, can't keep quiet. That we feel the need to share with others. That we will boldly proclaim the love of Jesus.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
~ Galatians 5:22-23 ~
