“This is the day the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.”

Psalm 118:24

I’ve been thinking a lot recently about living with purpose. I can’t tell you exactly why. My life has always felt purposeful to me. I run to get faster, I write to share my words, and I learn at school so that I’ll be able to teach others someday. But what about the mundane things in life? What about my decision of when to get up and when to go to sleep? And what about the way I decide to go about doing these things?

I believe that in Christ, I have been called to a higher purpose than simply living. He has been showing me recently that every single thing I do matters, and that my mindset in those moments is so important. In running, we have this thing we like to call “mental toughness,” and it’s basically how strong your mind is in terms of running. Someone with a lot of mental toughness can run with grit and endurance even in the hardest races, while someone who’s a mental marshmallow will crumble at the sight of a steep hill or an intense competition.

I’ve been thinking of these ideas in terms of the Christian life. I listened recently to a podcast by Eric Ludy, a great Christian author and pastor in Colorado, and his words challenged me to think about the way I wake up in the mornings. He believes that the way we start our day in those first moments sets the tone for the entire day. He says that he does his best to wake up “spry” every morning, ready for the work the Lord has for him, and rejoicing in the beauty of each day the Lord has made. This is not an easy task, because it really is our mind’s will over our body’s, and that is where mental toughness paired with the Holy Spirit inside of us can push us on to greater things.

When God tells us to “rejoice and be glad” in the day that He has made, I think our mentality plays a big role in that command. To rejoice is “to feel or show great joy or delight,” but it also comes from the Middle English word rejoisen, which translates a little differently than our modern ideas. This word is actually an enjoyment of one’s own possessions or fruits. In essence, to rejoice was not only to be joyful, but to be joyful because of what one has.

Although the Bible was not written in English, I do think the process of translation was overseen by the Lord, and these word roots are not mistakes. When the Bible was translated into English, I find it interesting also to look at the words that were chosen to convey its meaning in our own tongue. Thus, I think there is something very important that can be translated into the Christian life through this word “rejoice.” We, as believers, are not called to live each moment in joy because of our own happiness, but rather because of the beauty inside of us. When we wake up each morning, it is not to the gift of life, but rather the gift of life in service to a good and loving King. Our joy comes not from the inner workings of our own minds, but instead it is something that we have the ability to choose because of the joy of the Holy Spirit inside of us.

I want to live purposefully in every moment of my life, striving continually toward the beautiful wholeness that is before me. I want my mind in life to be one tuned with mental toughness and strength in the purposes of the Lord. I want to find joy every morning simply because the joy of salvation and the journey of sanctification is bubbling out of me. As a Christian, I am called to a life full of purpose, and that purpose is not one that I choose. That purpose is the one I am designed for, and I want to start my day rejoicing in the beauty of that purpose, wherever it might lead me.