WHEN JOY IS CONSECRATED
There is a quiet freedom in realizing that Jesus is not threatened by your joy. Whatever is good, true, beautiful, or worthy of delight did not originate in rebellion against Him, but ultimately flows from His generosity.
You do not need to abandon the things you enjoy simply because they are not stamped with overt religious language. Only what is vulgar, profane, or sinful must be put away; neutral things may be baptized—set apart, lifted up, and enjoyed with thanksgiving. “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights” (James 1:17). If the gift is good, it did not sneak past God; it came through Him.
Say you love Sherlock Holmes (I do). Jesus does too. Who do you think gave Sir Arthur Conan Doyle the mind to reason so sharply, the imagination to weave such intricate plots, the discipline to give form to mystery and logic alike? “In Him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28).
Creative brilliance, intellectual delight, and storytelling itself are not accidents of evolution—they are reflections, however faint, of the Logos who spoke the worlds into being (John 1:1-3). Whether Conan Doyle recognized Christ in his stories or thanked Jesus for the gift entrusted to him is a matter between his conscience and God; but it is entirely fitting for you to thank God for the pleasure you receive.
This truth liberates us from a cramped, suspicious spirituality. Music, hobbies, craftsmanship, learning, reading, building, collecting—these are not enemies of holiness when offered back to God. The Apostle Paul wrote, “Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31). He did not say only pray or only preach, but whatever you do. A thing does not need to be labeled sacred to be consecrated; it needs only to be received with gratitude and governed by love.
When you place your life—your tastes, your talents, your joys—on the altar, nothing is diminished; everything is made whole. “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service” (Romans 12:1).
Jesus does not demand that you become less human to follow Him; He redeems your humanity. In His presence, your whole life becomes worship—not drained of color, but filled with light.
That is, at the very least, an idea worth considering.
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Lord Jesus, I thank You for every good and perfect gift You have placed in my life. Teach me to enjoy them with a clean heart, to consecrate them without fear, and to praise You as the Giver of all that is good. May nothing You have given draw me away from You, but everything lead me back to You with joy. Amen.
BDD
