“Why so Cheerful?”
On a train to Liverpool a Christian worker found himself in a crowded compartment seated near two soldiers, one a private, and the other a sergeant in his middle thirties. The private was a young lad, ruddy and open of countenance. The Christian worker’s heart went out to the boy, and he engaged both of the soldiers in conversation.
To his surprise he discovered that they had been through the ordeal of Dunkirk. The younger man appeared particularly happy and joyful; appeared to look on life as though it were to him to be rosy.
The civilian said to him, “You went through that terrible experience of Dunkirk, yet you seem to be happy and cheerful.”
“Oh, sir,” the boy said, “but Dunkirk did a lot for me.”
“A lot for you? What did it do?”
“It brought me to Christ. While I was right in the midst of that conflict, I trusted Him as I had been taught. I was saved, and have been rejoicing in Him ever since.”
Source:
Home Evangel
That soldier knew where his joy comes from. His joy, just like our joy, comes from knowing Jesus as our own personal Lord and Savior.
From a sermon by Bill Butsko, Joy in Knowing the Shepherd, 12/10/2009