joy

It’s a good practice when we study a book of the Bible, to focus on key words. Recurring words will help us understand the theme of a book. For instance, in John’s gospel, the word “Father” is found over 100 times. Jesus’ relationship to the heavenly Father is a major theme of John’s writing. In John’s first epistle, we see “know” over 25 times. His purpose – to establish the true knowledge we have in Jesus Christ. In the book of Philippians, the words “joy” and “rejoice” appear more than 15 times. There are certainly other topics addressed throughout, but the need for us to rejoice permeates the epistle.