S167P2 – Sources of joy: his work
Pro. 21:15
It is a joy for the just to do justice, but destruction will come to the workers of iniquity.
This Proverb can be taken to mean different things but which are all true. One could read this to mean that the fruit of justice is joy. It should make us happy to see justice being done if we love it. This also could mean that those who reap the benefits of the just act also would be joyful because they have received a good result. Another way to read this is more about the actor than the recipient or the audience. This way seems to coincide with the second part of this verse. Where the workers of iniquity will receive the penalty of destruction, the workers of justice will receive the blessing of joy. What this tells me is that the servants of the Lord whose job it is to uphold justice will be doing that job gladly.
This reminds me of the idea of the joyful giver. Two people can be equally obedient and give the Lord the same portion, but their hearts can be diametrically opposed. One can give out of obligation and resentment. That person might even curse having to let that money go. The other gives joyously and abundantly because of a love for the Lord. That is one who obeys with a glad heart. It is the difference between the son who obeys his father because he does not want punishment but grumbles the whole time, and the son who obeys gladly because he respects his father and wants to please him. Whatever the work God has for us to do, it should bring us joy to do it for him.
Our heavenly Father will ask us to do many difficult, challenging and even painful things for him. Jesus showed us the ultimate example of this, and we can learn greatly from one verse related to his sacrifice. He did that for the joy set before him. [Heb 12:2] It was no physical pleasure for him to endure what He endured, but He did it gladly. Although He would have chosen another way, He obeyed the Father’s way without contradiction. [Mt. 26:42] Our joy in doing his work should be in knowing that we are pleasing him by fulfilling his will. Father, make us children who happily obey their Father not out of obligation but out of love and out of the joy of knowing You are pleased.