"Serve the Lord with gladness."-Psalm 100:2

Delight in divine service is a token of acceptance. Those who serve God
with a sad countenance, because they do what is unpleasant to them, are
not serving Him at all; they bring the form of homage, but the life is
absent. Our God requires no slaves to grace His throne; He is the Lord
of the empire of love, and would have His servants dressed in the
livery of joy. The angels of God serve Him with songs, not with groans; a
murmur or a sigh would be a mutiny in their ranks. That obedience which
is not voluntary is disobedience, for the Lord looketh at the heart, and
if He seeth that we serve Him from force, and not because we love Him,
He will reject our offering. Service coupled with cheerfulness is
heart-service, and therefore true. Take away joyful willingness from the
Christian, and you have removed the test of his sincerity. If a man be
driven to battle, he is no patriot; but he who marches into the fray with
flashing eye and beaming face, singing, "It is sweet for one's !
country to die," proves himself to be sincere in his patriotism.
Cheerfulness is the support of our strength; in the joy of the Lord are we
strong. It acts as the remover of difficulties. It is to our service what
oil is to the wheels of a railway carriage. Without oil the axle soon
grows hot, and accidents occur; and if there be not a holy cheerfulness
to oil our wheels, our spirits will be clogged with weariness. The man
who is cheerful in his service of God, proves that obedience is his
element; he can sing,

"Make me to walk in Thy commands,
'Tis a delightful road."

Reader, let us put this question-do you serve the Lord with gladness?
Let us show to the people of the world, who think our religion to be
slavery, that it is to us a delight and a joy! Let our gladness proclaim
that we serve a good Master.