“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me – practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.” Philippians 4:4-9
As we enter into the time of year that we sing, ‘Joy to the World! the Lord is Come,’ I have to wonder if we really mean it. After all even the holiday hustle and bustle for Christians seems at times to be devoid of joy and peace and thanksgiving. Instead rejoicing in the Lord always and not being anxious about anything we are lacking in joy and highly anxious.
This Christmas season may the world see joy in us. May they see peace instead of anxiousness. May they see prayerfulness and thanksgiving. May they see the peace of God in our lives. Oh what an opportunity we have to celebrate and share some good news to those who need to hear it.
But in order to share that message we will need to take Paul’s words here in Philippians to heart. May we think and dwell on what is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent, and worthy of praise.