Real Joy

"You will show the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and
the pleasures of living with your forever."
Psalm 16:11 (NLT)

Our six year-old granddaughter, Brooke, loves to spend time at our house visiting with her cousins Faith and Mary Kathryn. So during the Christmas holidays when there was no school she came to spend a couple of days and nights with us.

However, she still wanted to keep in contact often with her mother. In this high-tech world we live in, cell phones have became a daily part of our grandchildren's lives. They find themselves using them at home and while they are in traveling. Six year-old Brooke can operate one easily.

While in our home she picked up our cordless phone to call her parents. Because she was in the habit of using the cell phone she found herself pushing the talk button at the wrong . . .

"You will show the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and
the pleasures of living with your forever."
Psalm 16:11 (NLT)

While in our home she picked up our cordless phone to call her parents. Because she was in the habit of using the cell phone she found herself pushing the talk button at the wrong time on the cordless phone. Finally, after a couple of tries she, in frustration, put it down and said to me, "Grandma, where is the real phone?" Meaning, of course, the cell phone that she in her young life uses frequently.

I thought about how we sometimes get used to going our own way. Maybe occasionally forgetting the real purpose God has for our lives. Selfishness, bitterness or just plain apathy toward the needs of others becomes a way of life. We find ourselves pushing the wrong button in relationships that are precious to us.

Eventually, we become overwrought with the unhappiness we have created and start searching for other answers. Those other answers are found in knowing God. Begin to fill your life with serving God and others, rather than with self-seeking pleasures. God has a plan for you and it cannot be discovered through human wisdom. You need wisdom found only in God's Word.

To Brooke the 'real? phone is her mother's cell phone that is used daily at work and home. In turn the only 'real? hope for us is in Jesus Christ. Pleasure and happiness are not possible without God. Strive to know and love Him and you will find wisdom, knowledge and 'real? joy.