What makes us happy?

Psalm 1
1 Blessed is the man
who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked
or stand in the way of sinners
or sit in the seat of mockers.
2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
and on his law he meditates day and night.
3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither.
Whatever he does prospers.
4 Not so the wicked!
They are like chaff
that the wind blows away.
5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
6 For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish.

Is happiness a goal or a result of a goal achieved? Many people go through life seeking happiness, only to find it elude their grasp. Others always seem to be happy, even in the face of tragedy. Why is this so? Could those who seek happiness struggle to find it in the wrong places, with the wrong people, and with the wrong agenda? Is happiness a goal or a result of a goal achieved?

Psalm 1 proposed happiness was the result of a lifestyle. “Happy the person...” According to the psalmist, the happy person was one who avoided evil and studied the ways of God found in the Law. In other words, the happy person made God and his will (found in the Torah) the primary goal of life; “feeling good” was a secondary effect of faith. By implicit contrast, the unhappy person was the cynic and evil-doer, the one who cared little for God’s will, the one who thought he could make himself happy. By extending this logic a little further, the happy person placed God above self and lived for God; the unhappy person lived only for the self.
The faith-filled person is happy.” I have found that statement to be true by experience. The people I most admire are those who live happily with God. That commitment shades their entire existence in a joyful glow. Their smile is genuine, their love for their spouse and children overflows. These are the people I want to be around; these are the people I am proud to call my friends and my heroes. I find their happiness is infectious, because it finds its roots in something I value most of all: a deep love for God.

Peace and love,

Sue

"Then Jesus said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me". (Luke 9:23)