We’re a little more than a week into the new year and already some are disappointed that they have failed to keep their resolutions. They’re sad and defeated. Gone is the hope for a happy new year. But is it really that cut and dry?
Of course not. There is much more to our happiness. The first thing is defining happiness. The other day someone told me it was a glass of wine and pizza to which another replied that beer and pizza made them happy. Apparently pizza is the universal happy food but the accompanying beverages vary.
Instead of happy the Bible uses words like joy and blessed. But in all actuality they are similar if not the same – depending on how you define happy. If you take the definition of the ancient song writer (author of Psalm 1), being blessed (fortunate, enriched, contented and fulfilled) doesn’t come from a varying and fleeting idea of right and wrong but delighting in the law of God. To many that can seem like a daunting task or a road map for nitpicking rules; but the truth is God’s law is pretty simple – love God, love others, love yourself. That’s it!
If we can walk in that laws simplicity and be content with what we have and who we are happiness will be our constant companion. But if we pursue empty hyped-up promises or fleeting and self-serving goals we’ll never be happy for more than a moment.
Psalm 1 tells us to not walk with those who aren’t into the great law of love, to not stand with those who keep missing the mark of a God loving life and certainly we shouldn’t sit down with those that have missed the mark so often that they’ve become cynical and mocking.
If you want to be happy, delight in God’s law, meditate on it every day and find contentment in blossoming where you are currently planted.
Here are the links to a few songs that go along with these thoughts.
CornerstoneOC 