Men have pursued joy in every avenue imaginable. Some have successfully found it while others have not. Perhaps it would be easier to describe where joy cannot be found: Not in Unbelief -- Voltaire was an infidel of the most pronounced type. He wrote: "I wish I had never been born." Not in Pleasure -- Lord Byron lived a life of pleasure if anyone did. He wrote: "The worm, the canker, and grief are mine alone." Not in Money -- Jay Gould, the American millionaire, had plenty of that. When dying, he said: "I suppose I am the most miserable man on earth." Not in Position and Fame -- Lord Beaconsfield enjoyed more than his share of both. He wrote: "Youth is a mistake; manhood a struggle; old age a regret." Not in Military Glory -- Alexander the Great conquered the known world in his day. Having done so, he wept in his tent, before he said, "There are no more worlds to conquer." Where then is real joy found? -- the answer is simple, in Christ alone. The Bible Friend, Turning Point, May, 1993

"You can go a long way with a smile. You can go a lot farther with a smile and a gun."

I felt something more, like stabs of joy. These pointed to something other and outer. --

Someone developed an acrostic for the word joy that reads, Jesus, Others, and You. It is simple yet true. Christ must be foremost, then comes our regard for others; when those are in place, we are personally fulfilled, blessed, and filled with joy.

Humor Is A Virtue

Joy may be more than laughter, but it is not less.... Why should we suppose that tears are pious and laughs perverse? On the contrary, tears seem more closely allied to sin than laughs, for someday God will wipe away all tears from our eyes. But nowhere does the Bible say God will wipe away our laughs.