“You’re the happiest person I know, Bill. Why are you not only happy, but happy all the time?” asked Marie.
“Well, I wasn’t this like this all the time. In fact, I’ve even considered suicide very seriously a time or two, to be honest with you. But one day I decided to study happiness as a science and discovered how to be happy whether I’m actually happy or not. But, after all is said and done, it’s a choice.” Then after he thought for moment he added, “You know, Abe Lincoln had it right. He said, ‘Most people are about as happy as they want to be.’ So, I guess there must have been a day when I just decided to be happy.”
But the Bible has a different source for being happy. The Psalmist under the inspiration of God wrote, “Blessed - or happy - are those whose ways are blameless, who walk according to the law of the Lord.” There it is: God’s promise for our happiness! Simple, indeed. But it is not very easy!
In the center of the verse are the words, “whose ways” or more precisely, “who follow the instructions of the Lord.”
“Following” the ways of the Lord is to come first in the life of anyone who wants to be blest or who wants true happiness. His ways are the ways to happiness!
Shortly after being discharged from the military a soldier was being interviewed for a job. “What did you do in the service?” asked the interviewer. With no hesitation he answered, “I did as I was told!” Can Christians do less?
Prayer: Lord, many of us seek happiness in ways that lead us from You rather than to You. May we turn to You. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Scripture for Today: Psalm 119:1 Blessed are the undefiled in the way, Who walk in the law of the Lord!
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