Rejoice in the Lord Always: Not Just Another Cliche

"Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice!"

But what does it mean to rejoice? How can we rejoice ALWAYS?! God knows it's not easy for us to rejoice through every circumstance, but He encourages us to seek Him for the strength to do just that. Let's look first at what it means to rejoice.

According to Webster's Dictionary, rejoice means to feel or express great happiness. In this verse, the Greek word agalliao is used, which is the ACTIVE form of rejoicing - usually in response to what God has done. It means to feel an exuberant joy, the kind that overflows and affects everyone around you!

In the Old Testament, to rejoice was a short-lived event, but in Phil. 4:4 it is used with the commanding word of 'always' (Vine's Concise Dictionary). We tend to overuse this word 'always' and therefore forget what it really means. Again, Webster's Dictionary tells us that always means without exception, continuously, uninterruptedly, forever, in any event, at any time, perpetual continuance.

Let's take a closer look at this perpetual continuance. Perpetual means continuing without interruption or intermission, enduring forever. So the definition of always is redundant: perpetual continuance = continuing continuance that continues forever, without intermission. redundancy in literature (and the Bible is considered literature!) is used to emphasize a point of importance - meaning that God is emphasizing that we are to rejoice always no matter what the circumstances are, good or bad, promising or bleak.

Rejoicing is also active and meant to be seen by others (continue reading through verse 5). So when God tells us to rejoice in Him always, what He means is to express actively an exuberant joy in what the Lord has done with perpetual continuance!!

How great is that?!