Where's the Joy?

Of all the emotions that human beings have, joy or happiness is the most sought after. Blaise Pascal, the famous Mathematician, Physicist and Theologian of the early 1600s observed, "All men seek happiness. This is without exception. Whatever different means they employ, they all tend to this end. The cause of some going to war and of others avoiding it, is the same desire in both, attended with different views. The will never takes the least step but to this object. This is the motive of every man, even of those who hang themselves." And yet, as important as it is, it is also the most elusive emotion for the vast majority of people in this world. For most people joy is fleeting. But this should not be the case for the Christian. As we begin our verse by verse study through the book of Philippians, the first thing we need to consider is that joy should be a defining characteristic of the life of a follower of Christ.