The Joy That Spans Heaven And Earth

And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.' Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.
Luke 15:5-7 (emphasis added)

If there lurks in most modern minds the notion that to desire our own good and earnestly to hope for the enjoyment of it is a bad thing, I submit that this notion has crept in from Kant and the Stoics and is no part of the Christian faith. Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.
--C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory, p.26

The joy that the man in the parable experienced upon finding the one sheep that was lost was a joy that stretched horizontally (shared with his friends and neighbors) and vertically (shared with the hosts of heaven). In other words, it was a joy that spanned heaven and earth. Do we live our lives in pursuit of this joy, the joy that spans heaven and earth? Or do we settle for lesser joys, even though they may be good joys? Are we far too easily pleased?

Lord, please help me live my life always pursuing the greatest joy, the joy that spans heaven and earth. May everything else be subordinate to this. In Jesus' name, Amen.