What it Takes to Be Happy

Sophocles, an early Greek playwright, said, “When a man has lost all happiness, he’s not alive. Call him a breathing corpse.” He must have been correct. By the thirteenth century Thomas Aquinas, an Italian philosopher and scholar said, “There is within every soul a thirst for happiness.” So, we do need something to make us happy. What does it take for you to be happy? Albert Einstein said, “A table, a chair, a bowl of fruit and a violin; what else does a man need to be happy?” Well, Albert, I can’t speak for my readers, but I think I’m going to need a little more than what you propose. So somewhere between “a breathing corpse” and a “bowl of fruit and a violin” we find that for which we thirst; that which makes us happy. Is it a warm puppy, a heavy blanket on a cold night, a beautiful sunset, enough money to pay the bills, an inter-personal relationship? While any or all of these might be a part of our happiness, the heart and soul of genuine happiness lies in being right with God. The Psalmist worded it this way: “Happy are the people whose God is the Lord (Psalm 144:15)!” If you’re happy and you know it, shout “Amen!

Join me this week in remembering the following global concerns:
• Pray for a volunteer team from the U.S. that will be working in Macau this week ministering in the various casino areas.
• Advent is a special time of year in many parts of the world, as preparations for Christmas are made. Pray that missionaries will use the Advent season for effective witness.
• Pray for those who are ministering in the Horn of Africa among people who are caught up in the famine crisis.
• Pray for existing churches and for church planters in Vancouver, Canada as they seek to start gospel works in one of North America’s least reached cities.