Three ‘Cheers’

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

In the mid-eighties, Steven Patrick Morrissey, better known as ‘Moz’, dominated the British rock charts. Known for his melancholy as much as for his music, Morrissey’s songs had predominantly depressive themes. They dwelled on fractured relationships, lonely nightclubs, and the hopeless weight of the past. In short, Morrissey was a singer who lived a cheerless life in a minor key.

How different from the life Jesus called his followers to live! On three different occasions, He encouraged his disciples to ‘be of good cheer’. Bible teacher Philip De Courcy calls them ‘the three cheers of the New Testament’. The first reason to be cheerful is because your sins are forgiven and forgotten in Christ (see Matthew 9:2). Because of Calvary, your faults and failings will never be used in judgment against you (see John 5:24).

The second reason to be cheerful is because we’re not fighting for victory but from the vantage point of victory. ‘In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world’ (John 16:33).

And the third reason to cheer is because Jesus will be with you no matter what life throws at you or who comes against you. Like the terrified disciples on board a storm-tossed boat, He will be there when you need Him. You have His word on it: ‘They were troubled…But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid”’ (Matthew 14:26-27).

Peace isn’t the absence of storms. It’s knowing Christ is with us and ‘nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God…in Christ Jesus our Lord’ (Romans 8:39).

Prayer
Heavenly Father, help me to live a life of good cheer each and every day because of what YOU have done for me. In Jesus’ Name, Amen