“Thou hast put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound” (Ps 4:7).
Earthly pleasures, though they may stimulate and even delight our senses, pass quickly and then have to be repeated. Spiritual pleasures, on the other hand, leave a deep impression on our soul and are capable of shaping it. If we seek earthly pleasures too intensely, we run the risk of becoming dependent on them and seeking spiritual joys less and less. Therefore, while we may enjoy “grain and wine”, we should do so only to the extent that they do not become too valuable to us and we do not lose sight of the true joys.
The Apostle Paul exhorts us to “rejoice in the Lord always” (Phil 4:4), referring to joy in God and for God’s sake. There are no limits to this, for joy in the Lord is already a foretaste of eternal bliss. It is the joy of doing God’s Will, of living in union with Him and thus realising the meaning of our earthly existence. It is the inexhaustible joy of knowing our Father, and the more we come to know Him, the greater the joy.
This joy in God and in all that He has called into existence is a gift. With our Father we discover more and more the beauty of His creation and share with Him the joy of seeing man created in His image and likeness.
If we can rejoice in God in this life and receive His joy in our hearts, it will be far surpassed by what awaits us when we see our Father in eternity without veils. Then our joy will rise to eternal bliss. Living with this hope on earth will give us the strength to fulfil our mission in this world and be a cause of joy to our Heavenly Father.