Christian, a simple question to ask yourself today: “Am I happy in Jesus?”

With a simple illustration, Jim Johnston helps us see that our answer to this question is more important than we may know.

Joy is one of the vital gauges on the dashboard of the Christian life. When the needle dips — when you lose your joy — you should take note. To stay safe, you need to pay attention to your joy.

Coal miners know that dangerous gases can gather silently and secretly in the tunnels. Carbon monoxide will asphyxiate them. Methane explodes…

But in the early days of coal mining, they found an effective, low-tech solution: They brought canaries into the mines. A canary’s metabolism is very sensitive to air quality. As long as the bright yellow birds chirp and sing, miners know the air is safe. If gas levels rise, the canaries stop singing, wobble on their perch, and eventually fall to the floor of the cage.

Christian joy is like that singing, yellow bird. One of the first effects of sin or doctrinal error is that we lose our joy in Christ. When your heart stops singing, that is a warning to watch your life and doctrine closely.

So, again, I ask, “Are you happy in Jesus?”

For those of you who may take issue with me using the word happy, thinking that happiness is different than joy, give this a read.

Read the whole post from Jim Johnston here.