We are all chasing joy. When we chase a new job, a new romance, a new home, or a new friend, we are ultimately chasing joy. We want our hearts to explode with euphoria because of how wonderful our lives have turned out. We all chase joy. But the greatest experiences of joy are not when we have made something happen on our own. The greatest joy is almost always in response to something that we have discovered. We experience joy when we find out that the person we love loves us back. We experience joy when we get the news that our team won or a gift has arrived or a disease has been cured. Joy almost always comes in response to news. When the angels proclaimed the birth of Jesus, they called it good news that would bring great joy for all the people. They told the shepherds that they now had a reason to rejoice. A Savior had been born! Now despite this news, the shepherds were still poor and they still were among an oppressed people. Their immediate surroundings had not changed. But they had just received news that God had drawn near to them through His Son. They just received news that they could have peace with God through a Savior who would deliver them from their sins. They just received news that the joy for which they longed was now available to them through Jesus. This third week of Advent we honor Jesus as our joy. We remember that the joy we chase is often short-lived. But the joy brought by the news that Jesus, our Savior, had come is a joy that abides and that strengthens our hearts each day.