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Celebrate! May 6, 2025 Devotional

by David Joynt on May 06, 2025


JOHN 10:10 | 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

 

One piece of wisdom we must pass on is decidedly countercultural: happiness is not the best life goal.

 

Don’t misunderstand me—Christian disciples are not masochistic, seeking out misery and somehow celebrating it. Jesus came that we might have “abundant life.” Abundant life is joyful. There is no doubt that happiness is better than misery and this is understood by our culture very well. It is equally true however, that happiness cannot be found directly; it is a byproduct of a life that is full of purpose and full of faith, in which we learn to serve God and others. It is in the midst of seeking other goals and expressing other virtues, that we discover happiness.

 

Do you have an over-riding life goal? What is it? When have you been happiest?

 

 

Gracious God,

Save me from an obsession with happiness. Teach me joy in all circumstances.

Amen.

 

About the Author
David Joynt

Dave Joynt began his service as a pastor at Valley Presbyterian Church in Paradise Valley, Arizona in September 2014. This meant a move away from the Northeast, where he has a long history, growing up in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and then serving congregations in Delaware and New Jersey for a total of 23 years.

Dave was nurtured in a great church in Bethlehem where his parents, Anne and Carey, served as elders. He graduated in classics from Lehigh University where his Father taught, and then from Oxford, where he met his wife Julia. Ordained in 1988, he completed a Ph.D. from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1993.

He and Julia have a son, Tristan, and a daughter, Madeleine.

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