The Christmas season is filled with joy. We see it on the faces of those around us—even in the hustle and bustle of last-minute dashes to the market for a forgotten gift or a missing ingredient. We hear it in on the air as the bell-ringers fill the skies from one end of town to the next. Joy just seems to ooze out of everyone. Sometimes we’re afraid that the “Scrooge” in our life will break his face because he dons his annual smile for the Christmas spirit.

The joy is for all believers as we join with B. E. Warren in singing the chorus: “It is joy unspeakable and full of glory, full of glory, full of glory; It is joy unspeakable and full of glory, Oh, the half has never yet been told.”

The joy is for all people as the message of Christ, humbling Himself to our level, makes it possible of anyone who will believe to have eternal life.

As with all of the themes of Advent, we must reach beyond the surface to see them become active in our lives. Of course, we can always see evidence of Hope, Love, Joy, and Peace as they are played out daily in our lives. But to have the concepts become a reality in our lives goes beyond the surface. As they say, we have to get to the heart of the matter.

And so, if we are looking for Joy this Christmas season, the best place to start is not in the bright and cheery music played in malls and elevators (even when these songs turn our minds heavenward). Nor should we stop with the shiny smiles on little ones’ faces (although the smiles and laughter of the innocents warms our own attitudes). As the children’s song says, we must have the Joy “down in my heart.” Where’s your Joy this Christmas?