Copyright by Shea Oakley
\nAll rights reserved<\/p>\n
What is the place of human happiness in the economy of God? The world often tells us that nothing is more important than its pursuit. In fact \u201cthe pursuit of happiness\u201d is so important in the national zeitgeist of America that it is literally enshrined in our nation\u2019s constitution. But seeking happiness at any cost is not the counsel of Scripture. Seeking God at any cost is.<\/p>\n
When good feelings are put at the center of our aspirations we become Hedonists and Hedonism is a form of idolatry. In fact the argument could be made that the all-out quest for personal happiness may, in and of itself, constitute a complete false religious system in our times. If seen in that light it may not be too far from the mark to suggest that this system is the de facto majority religion of the 21st Century Western world. If you ask the average person on the street in the United States or Europe today what they want most out of life it is a fair bet that he or she will tell you that they \u201cjust want to be happy\u201d. Even a less self-seeking answer to the same question usually revolves around happiness. Often the hope is expressed that someone near and dear may achieve it, most often the inquiree\u2019s children.<\/p>\n
Of course gladness of heart is not intrinsically evil. It may be presumed from the Bible that it is even a large part of God\u2019s ultimate will in offering redemption to his fallen human creation. Yet the Bible is also quite clear that the chief purpose of man is to glorify God above all other goals. Whatever true happiness we can hope for here is a direct function of worshipping and obeying God simply because He is our Creator and He is holy. We must love God primarily because of who He is intrinsically, not because of what He can do for us.<\/p>\n
Such devotion may sound patently impossible to we who are essentially born with self-fulfillment as our natural \u201cdefault setting\u201d, but it is not impossible if the perfect beauty and righteousness of God captures our hearts. This is only able to happen because, in Christ, He loves us with a love so pure and powerful that our hearts can be awakened to that beauty and righteousness. When this occurs we end up loving Him above all things, including our own temporal happiness, because He first loved us. The place where that kind of love was most perfectly made manifest is at the cross, and it is only there that we learn to exchange our demand for bliss for the higher goal of blessing Him.<\/p>\n
The sweet paradox in all this is that, in first seeking God\u2019s glorification in our lives, we obtain much temporal happiness in our earthly existence and ultimately the promise of eternal happiness as well. The degree to which our hearts are truly surrendered to God in this present life will determine how happy we will be in the here and now. The happiest people on Earth are those who are in intimate union with Jesus Christ and, in grace beyond all measure, they are further promised perfect and infinite happiness in the Kingdom of Heaven.<\/p>\n
So being happy is not a bad thing if it is not elevated above God as an object of worship. When rightly seen as a byproduct of knowing our Lord as our first priority it is put in its proper place, and then released into our hearts.<\/p>\n
That very prospect is something to be happy about!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Copyright by Shea Oakley All rights reserved What is the place of human happiness in the economy of God? The world often tells us that nothing is more important than its pursuit. In fact \u201cthe pursuit of happiness\u201d is so important in the national zeitgeist of America that it is literally enshrined in our nation\u2019s… <\/p>\n