Philippians 4:4 - "Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!"

Thoughts on today's verse:

The command is simple, but it is a command - Rejoice! Paul narrows it down and tells the believers in Philippi the source of their rejoicing - the Lord, and when they are supposed to rejoice - always! It seems simple, but we need to remember a couple of things. Paul was in prison when he penned these words - in prison! He was not in prison because he had stolen a chariot, laundered money, or sold drugs. No, he was in prison because he had been a faithful preacher of the gospel. His day to day existence was in question. He had chains that bound him to a certain place and to certain people, and all around him, there were enemies who wanted to destroy the church in Rome and elsewhere, yet in spite of these circumstances, Paul could say confidently - Rejoice!

This is where the always comes in. We rejoice when times are good, and we rejoice when times are not so good. We rejoice always, because when we think about the cause of our rejoicing, the Lord himself, who has granted to us life eternal through His Son, Jesus Christ, then we too can count this life and all that it entails, as a momentary, light affliction (2 Corinthians 4:17), and continue rejoicing in the Lord!