Drawing With Joy from the Wells of Salvation
We live in a largely joy-less society. Depression, exhaustion, anxiety, and “burnout” are rampant, even within Christianity. Now, I’m no doctor, and I do recognize that there are genuine physical causes which could cause each of those things I just mentioned above.
But for those of us without chemical imbalances or physical maladies, I think a big part of our struggles with depression, exhaustion, anxiety and burnout is the simple fact that we are living without joy.
We go through our day-to-day routines, in all the mundanity and sameness of work and sleep, and as Christians we have the added weight of spiritual struggles and spiritual warfare to drag us down. But that’s not how it’s meant to be. Jesus said,
“The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” John 10:10
A joy-less life is not an abundant life. But where does joy come from? And how do we find joy in the midst of our modern lives?
That’s where Isaiah 12:1-3 comes in:
“And in that day thou shalt say, O Lord, I will praise Thee: Thou wast angry with me, Thine anger is turned away, and Thou comfortedst me. Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid:for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song; He also is become my salvation. Therefore with joy shall ye draw water from the wells of salvation.”
The key to joy in this verse is not money, or health, or any of the things we would consider essential elements of “the good life.” So what is it? Simply this: I was lost in sin. God was justly angry with me, but now I am forgiven, and instead of anger, God pours His comfort upon me. I was helpless, now God is both my strength and my song, my sense of purpose and joy. That is the key to joy here: drawing from the wells of salvation
Perhaps, like me, you were saved at such an early age, it is difficult to remember a time before you accepted Christ’s payment for your sins. If so, you—like me—need to go not just often, but purposefully to the wells of salvation in order to be reminded of just what your sin and mine cost Jesus—and how willingly and lovingly He endured all that torture for our sakes.
Whoever you are, if you have asked for forgiveness, trusting the finished work of Christ to pay for your sins, you are free! Romans 8:1 tells us,
“There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”
No condemnation! There’s reason enough to walk through my day bursting with the joy of the Lord! Salvation doesn’t just mean forgiveness, though. The riches of salvation are an unending source of reasons to be joyful. No matter how many times we go back to the wells of salvation, we will never find them dry! Here are just a few of salvation’s “benefits:”
Victory
We each live life in company with our own sinful flesh, and it can be difficult at times to remember the fact that Christ’s salvation didn’t just cover our sin: it defeated it! While we do live in the reality of the struggle of flesh against Spirit, we also live in the reality of promised and provided victory, Romans 7:23-24 expresses both the despair of our sinfulness and the joy of Christ’s victory:
“O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.”
Galatians 2:20 gives us this summary of what victory in Christ looks like in daily life:
“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, Who loved me, and gave himself for me.
Victory is promised, even guaranteed if we are walking in the Spirit. Galatians 5:16 tells us
“This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.”
1 John 5:3-4 tells us about the role of faith in the victory God gives the saved in Christ:
“For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments: and His commandments are not grievous. For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.”
You see, we are to walk in the Spirit, to live each moment saying yes to God and no to sin, trusting (by faith) God to give the victory He has promised.
But victory is not a standalone bucket of blessing from the wells of salvation: notice how God tells us what victory is to be used for:
“But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.” 1 Corinthians 15:57-58
Purpose
One thing I have noticed among Christians and non-Christians alike is a lack of purpose. Life seems dull and joyless when it seems meaningless. Joy comes when we have a reason for living our lives, a reason to work, to invest our time in something meaningful. One blessing we can draw from the wells of salvation is the joy of having a purpose outside of ourselves.
It is interesting to me that the first occurrence of any form of the word “joy” in the Bible is connected with serving God:
“Because thou servedst not the Lord thy God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things; Therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies which the Lord shall send against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things: and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck until he have destroyed thee.” (Deuteronomy 28:47-48)
The context of this passage is God warning the Israelites what would happen if they forsook Him and refused to obey His commands once they were in the land He had given them. We know from the rest of the Old Testament that this happened to them many times. They did fail to serve God, and they did end up serving a literal enemy who made them literal servants.
You and I may not have an enemy army come and take us into servitude, but when we fail to serve God in joyfulness and gladness of heart, we end up serving a spiritual enemy just as real as the oppressing armies the Israelites faced.
As Jesus said, we cannot serve two masters. (Matthew 6:24) Salvation means we are no longer to serve ourselves, but God. As 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 declares:
“What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.”
Contrary to what the world wants us to believe, true joy is not found in self-ownership or self-actualization, but in service to God. It is, in fact, what we were designed for. Romans puts it this way:
“For of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.” (11:36)
And consider these verses that highlight the fact that God created us, and that we were created for Him.
“Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were created.”Revelation 4:11
“For by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by Him and for Him: And He is before all things, and by Him all things consist.” (Colossians 1:16-17)
We belong to God as part of His creation, and even more so once we accept the payment of His blood to redeem us. Thus we are told,
“And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.” (Colossians 3:23-24)
Prayer
Another blessing that comes with, or rather, through, salvation is the privilege of prayer. Romans says,
“Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” (5:1-2)
Not only does salvation make us at peace with God, it also gives us the key to instant access to God through prayer. Psalm 66:18 tells us that,
“If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.”
But as long as our sin is confessed and forgiven, We can talk directly to God anytime, anywhere, and He hears us!
These are just a few of the manifold causes for joy believers have, solely by dipping our buckets into the “wells of salvation.”
Are you feeling joy-less today? Take some time with the Lord, thanking Him for all His bountiful blessings. Draw deeply from the wells of salvation—and do it with joy! We have much to be thankful for!
“Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.” Philippians 4:4