Honorable Joy

     Have you ever felt like you received joy when you didn't deserve it all? I know I have. Sometimes we do things in a less than honorable or Christ-like fashion to get attention and accolades that we really don't deserve. I don't know about you, but when I act in a dishonorable way and it gains me the attention I was seeking, my joy in that attention is not very complete.
     In the book of Judges, chapter 9 there is a story about a man named Abimelech who went about getting his joy in a very dishonorable fashion: he hired men to become his followers and then went and killed 69 of his 70 half-brothers and then got himself crowned as king. Yikes! Talk about dishonorable. The brother that escaped was the youngest and his name was Jotham. Jotham was a godly man and he did his best to encourage the people to turn away from Abimelech because of how he acted. Verse 19 says, "If then you have acted honorably and in good faith toward Jerub-Baal and his family (this was Jotham and Abimelech's father) today, may Abimelech be your joy, and may you be his, too!"
     Obviously Jotham was being sarcastic. He knew that the people had not acted honorable toward his family. They had murdered all of them and would have killed him too if he hadn't hid. After Jotham gave his speech to the town, he had to flee and hide again. Abimelech's dishonorably actions had cost Jotham the joy of his family and the joy of living in the town where he grew up. This is a lengthy story and I just barely touched the tip, but I would encourage you to read how it turns out.
     When we act in a less than honorable fashion looking for joy, whatever that joy may be, we can be assured that or joy won't last and that we have probably stolen someone else's joy in the process. My prayer for you this week (and I hope it will be your prayer as well!) would be for God to open your eyes to something that you may have done that was less than honorable. Ask his forgiveness and then ask the forgiveness of anyone that may have been hurt in the process. By doing this, I think you will find your complete joy.

Have a blessed week!