Have you ever actually watched a cavorting calf? You’d probably think you were witnessing the worst possible case of bovine ADD. Human children act similarly. Position yourself outside an elementary school just before the day’s final bell. Whether a child has to traverse ten feet to queue up for a bus or ten blocks to burst into her door, you can’t fail to miss a common behavior: They run.
When was the last time you leaped? Don’t count the day you were in range of an automatic sprinkler system just chugging into action. When did you dance like Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof or like King David upon the return of the ark of the covenant to Jerusalem (see2Sa 6:14–15)?
In Psalm 28:7 David asserts: “My heart leaps for joy and with my song I praise [God].” That inner jubilation works well for some of us, but we can’t all see ourselves physically leaping. Our hearts, though, alive in Christ and inspired by joy, can bound and jump.