Many people in and out of the church think of the Christian faith as gloomy, sad, and dismal.
I do not know where this idea came from, but it certainly didn’t come from Jesus. The Pharisees didn’t think of him that way. They called him a glutton and a wine-bibber. He had a reputation for enjoying life. Tax collectors didn’t see him as dull either. He was a favorite dinner guest and enjoyable company.
When he wanted to illustrate a point in a sermon, he “took a little child.” He did not have to send for one; one was already there! It is hard to think of children clustering round Muhammad or Buddha. But they came to Jesus. Children do not hide their feelings, and they do not like gloomy, solemn people.
Jesus was a happy person and he intended that his followers be happy too. He even referred to himself as a “bridegroom” and his followers as chosen guests at a wedding feast (Mark 2:19). After a Jewish wedding the couple did not go away for a honeymoon but held a week of continual feasting and rejoicing for family and friends. In a hard-wrought life, a wedding week was the happiest week of all.
Here is a truth worth remembering—the Christian life is happy like a wedding, not sad like a funeral. Wherever Jesus is—there is joy! There is the joy of forgiveness, the joy of a relationship with God, and the joy of acceptance. Follow Jesus and you’ll see.