As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. – John 15:9-11
God wants us to be happy. He’s the Author of happiness. It was His idea. But if that’s true, then why are so many people discouraged and downtrodden… and so often un-happy? The problem is what we listen to that drives what we look to in order to find that happiness. The message of the world is to “do what you want to do and be who you want to be” and this will make you happy, and it plays on repeat in advertising, conversations, entertainment, politics, news, books, talk shows and in our heads all throughout the week. Only… It. Does. Not. Work. The reason we can’t stay happy very long is because we often look to something that was never intended to keep us happy very long. God alone knows how best to deliver enduring happiness, and He delivered it through Jesus. Jesus invites us into the same kind of intimate relationship that He has with our Heavenly Father, one that overflows with love and joy. He tells us to keep His commandments, not to rob us of happiness, but rather to remove the things that are in the way of our full and lasting happiness. His message is “do what I want you to do and be who I made you to be” and in doing so, we will experience His joy, and our joy will be full no matter what else is happening in our lives. Do you want to know how to be happy both now and forever? Receive, believe, trust and obey the words of Jesus. To the degree that we listen to and linger over and live out the encouraging, correcting, instructing, guiding, cheering, uplifting, promising, God-glorifying words of the Bible, we will experience the same joy that is shared by Jesus and our Heavenly Father. Today, and every day, set your eyes, heart and mind on the glorious gospel truths of Scripture. It’s the only message that will truly deliver the happiness that it promises.
