The New Testament begins with a promise of joy. When the angel stepped onto the stage of human history and announced to the fear stricken shepherds that the long awaited Messiah had just been born in nearby Bethlehem, he proclaimed good news of great joy that would be for all the people. The Christian life is a life of joy for all. Joy is like a colour, in that everybody knows what it is, and nobody can describe it to someone who hasn t experienced it. Maybe that is why the Lord in his good providence has given an experience of joy to all, whether they are pagan or Christian, so that all might recognise the true joy of the Christian life when they see it in others, or read of it in the Bible.
Scripture speaks of all kinds of joy which even non-believers experience.
Joy in the world We can experience joy about all sorts of things, in a way that is good and God-given. Just to take a couple of examples from the Bible, in Isaiah 9.3 there is the scene of men rejoicing over the harvest. That s a very real experience for many people. Literally, if you are a farmer, you rejoice over your harvest, or the well-being and productivity of your herd or flock. A builder can rejoice in the house he has just made and a joiner in the cabinet he created out of his materials with the tools of his trade.