You are transported with a joy too great for words, while you reap the harvest of your faith, that is, salvation for your souls. 1 Peter 1:8, 9, N.E.B.

There is no place for a gloomy Christian. He is to be filled with delight. He bathes his mind and heart in the grandeur of God's love, in the beauties of the earth. Thereby he becomes oblivious to the petty cares of life and the pressure of duties.

However, the landscape of the Christian life does not always consist of fields of flowers and gentle rivers. There are gray days and great burdens to carry. In the midst of difficult times Paul cried out, "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God?" (Rom. 11:33). The apostle John, an exile sitting on a rock-bound coast, found his mind and life full of the glorious pageantry of the coming kingdom of God.

There is a triumphant buoyance of spirit in the life of the believers throughout the New Testament. A man is not much of a Christian who shows a long face for any length of time. Gloom and despondency are wrong. When the early Christians faced martyrdom, they gave themselves to it with songs. They were far too sure of Christ to wonder whether they would be able to make it. They had no time to bemoan their lot.

We are tied to the most triumphant life that ever walked the earth. He has this day thrust into our lives all that goes with triumph, victory, radiance, and holy gallantry. That is the inheritance He left us, with no trace of sadness in it. Because of this we are to face trouble and disaster with steady eyes, firmly poised against dreadful odds.

All this because Christ walks with us down every road and up every hill. He is our great and true Friend. He will never let go of us. He has given us love, joy, and peace. Christ is in our lives the divine music that knows no discord. He is for us the perfect character that has no blemish.

With all this, in Him we have found sublime things to live for. He has reserved for its the glories of an eternal kingdom. We are to lose our lives joyfully in the thrills of Christian service. We have been drawn into human need that is far greater than our own. We no longer live in a small world. The universe is within our grasp, and that for all eternity.