UNABASHED JOY Today I wonder if envy is always wrong. What if you envy someone for their joy in the Lord? What if you see in them such freedom and love for Christ in what they're doing, that you just can't help but desire that for yourself? Today I witnessed a beautiful young woman worship the Lord with such joyful passion, such assured freedom that I almost wept. I would've wept if I wasn't playing my clarinet at the same time. And no words ever came out of her lips. She was using sign language to translate a song the choir was singing in worship this morning. Without saying a word you could see this woman's love for the Lord in the way she gave herself up to Him in worship. I am self-conscious; too much so. Her freedom and joy is something I desire. And not just in worship, but in all areas of my life. Self-consciousness is another form of pride. It is constantly looking at yourself when the Lord wants you to lift your eyes to Him. We are constantly reminded in the Bible to do all things as unto the Lord. At the end of our lives, we will not answer to others for what we've done. We'll answer to Him. We'll stand before Him only. How foolish of me to live my life as if I'll answer to what others think of me some day. Very foolish. One day David and Saul came back from a successful military campaign. David paraded down the street and danced before the Lord with all his might. His wife was embarrassed and thought him foolish, but the Lord called him a man after His own heart. Some may have thought this young woman this morning was improper in her worship; some may have thought her foolish. I didn't. I was inspired. And I desire to worship and live with just the same joy and freedom that she displayed this morning.