When I was in high school, my physics class was assigned a project that I’m sure was not unique to our school. We were given limited material materials, mainly Popsicle sticks and wood glue, and instructed to build a bridge with specific parameters. On the appointed day, all of us brought our bridges to class and they were placed over a gap between two desks. Then small weights were systematically hung to the bottom of the bridges to text and see how much weight they could bear. Of course, in that environment, the greatest thrill wasn’t just winning the most sturdy bridge, but also watching as structure after structure was eventually obliterated under the increasing weight.

The weights weren’t added all at once; they were added slowly. One at a time. And they were added knowing that eventually every bridge would reach its capacity and crumble. No one thought that we could do something like stand on top of the bridge; though we didn’t know how much, we knew they would be destroyed under far less weight than that of a person. These structures weren’t made to support that kind of mass.

There is a similarity between those science projects and the direction of our joy. If you look around you, you’ll see all kinds of things that you enjoy. Opening Day of the baseball season. A steak perfectly grilled. Birthday parties. Christmas mornings. A good movie. All good things and all things for us to enjoy. And here’s the thing:

We should enjoy them. Not only is there nothing wrong with doing so, but there is actually everything right in doing so. So long as we understand that there is a difference between enjoying something and finding our joy in something.

Take the first thing on that list – Opening Day. Here is something I enjoy. I think a lot of us do. Freshly cut grass. The sound of a ballpark. The not-yet-too-hot sun of the spring. It’s enough to make you stop and listen to Terrance Mann tell Ray Kinsella that “people will come… to Iowa.”

But what if it rains? Or what if there’s an emergency at work and you miss the first pitch? Or what if there’s something crazy like a labor stoppage and that day is delayed?!? Well, you might be disappointed, but you wouldn’t be crushed. And that’s the difference between enjoying and finding your joy.

Like the physics bridge of old, all these things and so many more simply were designed to be the source of our joy. The weight of that expectation is simply too much, and they will eventually be pulverized underneath it. In fact, there is really only one thing that is strong enough to sustain the weight of human expectation. Only one thing that is sturdy enough to bear up under the weight of our need for joy. And that’s Jesus Himself:

“Come, all you who are thirsty,
    come to the waters;
and you who have no money,
    come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
    without money and without cost.
Why spend money on what is not bread,
    and your labor on what does not satisfy?
Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good,
    and you will delight in the richest of fare” (Isaiah 55:1-2).

This is the great invitation from the Lord in the Old Testament, and then fulfilled by Jesus. It’s only in Him that we can find true satisfaction. True contentment. True joy. He can bear up under that weight.

Not only so, but it’s only when we find our joy in Jesus are we actually free to rightly enjoy all these other things. That’s because we are no longer looking to those things to sustain our hearts, but instead, are treating them as they were designed to be treated – as good things for our enjoyment. We are free to enjoy them without adding the weight of our hearts to them. And so our joy in Jesus is not only rightly placed, but it also becomes the foundation of our ability to rightly enjoy other things.

There are many things in life to enjoy today, friends. But only one that can bear the weight of your joy. Jesus alone. He will not crumble.