A Colloquy on Rejoicing

 In this VoV prayer we read...

"Thou hast nothing of thine own but sin, 

nothing to move God to be gracious

or to continue His grace toward thee.

If thou forget this thou wilt lose thy joy."

This raises the question, "Why will we lose our joy if we forget this?"

Answer: If we think that we bring something to the table to move God to be gracious to us, then we put ourselves on a treadmill of performance. We must continually be doing what is required to move God to be gracious. 

The treadmill of performance is deadly to joy. If we think we are performing well, then it leads to pride. If we think we are failing, then it leads to despair. Performance doesn't lead to joy.

The only sure ground of joy is the free grace of God.