“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!”—Philippians 4:4.

I often have to remind myself that Paul the apostle was chained up in prison when he wrote this. And these were not empty words. Paul practiced what he preached.

In Acts 16, we find Paul and Silas in jail, but that didn’t dampen their spirits. They prayed and sang hymns while the other prisoners listened to them. The jailer must have been listening too, for he would soon ask these Christians the question, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” (v.30).

They told him to put his faith in Jesus, and that’s what he did. He and his family were baptized into Christ that very night.

You never know what might happen if you rejoice in the Lord at all times.