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Cheerfulness Without Levity, August 26
The blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow
with it.
Proverbs 10:22
.
The cheerfulness of the Christian is created by the consideration of the
great blessings we enjoy because we are children of God.... The cheerful
enlightenment of the mind and the soul temple by the assurance that we
have reconciliation with God, the hope we have of everlasting life through
Christ, and the pleasure of blessing others are joys which bring no sorrow
with them.
Those who indulge in chaffing, mirth, levity, and vanity of spirit, which
arise from a superficial, cheap experience, have no real, solid foundation
for hope and joy in the love of God and belief of the truth. The giddy, the
heedless, the gay, the jovial spirit is not the joy which Paul is anxious that
Christ’s followers shall have. This class spend their time in frivolity and
excessive levity. Time is passing, the end is near; yet they have not laid
up for themselves a good foundation against the time to come that they
may lay hold on everlasting life. We need not encourage that mirth which
dissipates reflection, leaves no time for consideration, and establishes
habits of lightness and cheap talk which grieve the Holy Spirit of God
and unfit us for the contemplation of heaven and heavenly things. This
is the class that will have cause to mourn and lament because they are
not prepared for the elevated joys of heaven. They are banished from the
presence of God.
It is not what is around us, but what is in us; not what we have, but
what we are, that makes us really happy. We want a cheerful fire on the
altar of our own hearts; then we shall view everything in a happy, cheerful
light. We may have the peace of Christ.... If we will be obedient, trustful
in God, as a child in its simplicity trusts its earthly parents, we shall have
peace—not the peace that the world gives, but that peace which Jesus
gives.... Life, this life, has much brightness in it if we will gather the
flowers and let the briers and thistles alone.
Bring the joy of heaven into your lives. The light of heaven, reflected
in its beauteous charm from those who are preparing for translation, brings
joy to the heavenly family.
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