If your days are like mine they often resemble a whirlwind of people and tasks.  Correspondence.  Problems.  Phone calls.  Appointments.  Projects.  Meetings.  Decisions.  Life can become very crowded at times!  Many times at the end of a very busy day I have pulled into my driveway and been reminded by the Holy Spirit that I still had “home work” to do.  Indeed the work we do in our families is more important than the varied work that so often consumes our lives.

What is the most important work you do every day?

I believe that the most important work that I have to do every day of my life is not done while I am “at work.”  It is not even done at the end of the day when I am home with my family.  It is the work that I must do at the beginning of the day that is most vital.

Every morning I must work at getting my own heart happy in Jesus.  The most important work is worship!  If I fail to get my eyes on Christ early everything else that I seek to do lacks the beauty of His presence.  All of life should grow out of my personal walk with Christ.

Many a Christian “worker” is miserable because they have neglected this work. I know.  I have been there.

George Muller wrote, “I saw more clearly than ever that the first great and primary business to which I ought to attend every day was to have my soul happy in the Lord.  The first thing to be concerned about was not how much I might serve the Lord, or how I might glorify the Lord; but how I might get my soul into a happy state, and how my inner man might be nourished.”

Remember that it is the joy of the Lord that is to be our strength (Nehemiah 8:10).  If you lose the joy of Jesus, do not expect to have the strength of the Lord.  The best work becomes draining and wearying without Him.  The most mundane and ordinary task takes on new blessing in His presence.

So…how?  How do you seek to get a happy heart, and keep it?  A few suggestions have been of help to me:

• Meditate in the Scriptures (Psalm 119).  Don’t stop with reading.  Meditate.  There is a singular joy that is associated with the illuminating work of the Holy Spirit!  Oh, the joy of discovery!  The thrill of hearing God’s voice and understanding spiritual truth.  Take time to think, to pray, to meditate.
• Cast your cares on the Lord (1 Peter 5:7).  Life is full of joy stealers.  When they come, give them to Jesus!  Immediately roll those thoughts on the Lord.  Refuse to let anything or anyone rob you of Christ’s joy.
• Speak to others about the Lord.  Give Him praise.  Witness.  Encourage.  As you speak about your Savior His joy will stir fresh in your own heart.  He truly is precious.
• Sing.  Even when you don’t feel like it.  Especially when you don’t feel like it!  Hum a hymn.  Sing a chorus about Christ.  Give Him glory and His glory will fill your heart.

Workers get weary.  Only the joy of Christ can sustain us through the daily demands of life.  Work on your soul and all of your work will take on new meaning.