It is said that the ancient Egyptians, upon death, were asked two questions before entering heaven:
Did you have joy while you were on earth?
Did you bring joy to others?
Although I don’t think this is what we will be asked before entering heaven, they are good questions to consider.
But another question we must ask ourselves is whether we really believe that God wants us to have joy. It seems that the common Christian believes that this life is similar to hell and all we have to enjoy is the mere thought that one day we will be in heaven, instead of having the joy that God has offered us.
Of course, joy is quite different from happiness, but many of us equate the two. Joy can be a constant, while happiness depends entirely on what happens.
It would also be difficult to have one and not the other. You cannot bring joy to others if you do not have any joy yourself. You can’t give away what you don’t have.
But, alas, let’s get back to the questions. Consider them for the next week. Do you have joy in your life? Have you ever? And, do you bring joy to others? Are these everyday things, once in a while, only when you feel like it
I think if we try to make it possible in our lives that we can answer these questions with a “yes”, then we would all be much better off. How would you answer the two questions? Leave your answers below.