Rejoice in the Lord always, I will say it again: Rejoice!

Philippians 4:4, NIV

Was there anything like allowance day when you were a kid? For one who grew up in the 1960's, allowance day was a joyous, weekly observance that I will never forget. Each Saturday I would receive 25 cents - an entire quarter of a dollar! Though the allowance was strictly on a grant basis from the benevolent dictators who raised me, it was pretty much a sure thing as long as I had done the few small chores required of me - such as making my bed and feeding the dog. Since as a small child I loved money, I made sure that these chores were always given first consideration. Plus the fact that I would have received a spanking in the place of my allowance had my responsibilities not been acceptably fulfilled, I had all the more incentive.

Now for the dividing of the money.

Since my parents understood that I was a covetous child, the contribution always had to be taken out first. That nickel would be faithfully dropped in the contribution plate on the next day, so this left two lovely dimes to be spent in any way I deemed appropriate. During baseball season this meant the purchase of two wax packs of baseball cards. Since sales tax was about 4%, I could get two packs as long as they were purchased separately. Buy them together and you would trip the sales tax and have to come up with an extra penny, something that I was loathe to do. It probably drove the saleslady crazy to see this little boy come up to her register twice instead of in one convenient trip, but I was well on my way to understanding high finance by then and was a big believer in Ben's "a penny saved is a penny earned" philosophy of life.

The offseason was more difficult because they didn't sell baseball cards once the season was over. I tried some specialty cards a time or two (like football cards) but found them to be largely unsatisfying. This left candy as the only viable option and I must have tried every variety in the five and dime that I frequented as a child. I can remember when a 7-11 came to town and I could buy a coke slurpee! That was living the dream as far as I was concerned.

Looking back on things, I think I understood the Apostle Paul's encouragement to rejoice better than did most adults. I confess that the part about that rejoicing being in the Lord took a few more years to get a firm grasp of, but I sure had the hang of the joy part. And I wonder if that's a part of why Jesus was so insistent on our having to become like little children in order to enter the kingdom of heaven. Kids understand the necessity of obeying the rules without question if they are to receive the desired reward. They understand the need for giving to God first, even if it cuts into their much loved funds. And, perhaps as much as anything else, kids know about joy.

These are all things we tend to forget about when we are adults, but it is good to call them to mind. We Christians have the privilege of being called children of God! It definitely will require that we recognize that He is our authority but, accepting that, we can then be free to rejoice in the Lord always. Dare I say it again? Rejoice!

It's a good life that God has given us, is it not? And someday soon, if we are faithful, there will be heaven. When we look at it that way, what is there not to rejoice about?