“How happy is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in his ways!” (Psalm 128:1, CSB)
The first thing you notice when reading Psalm 128 is the word “happy.” It grabs your attention, doesn’t it? I mean, we all want to be happy! But how can you find happiness?
On a lark, I googled the question: “How to be happy?” In 0.76 seconds, the collective wisdom of all the internet sages was gathered with 7,230,000,000 answers (that’s 7 billion with a “B”). A lot of advice – all of it true, of course, because it’s on the internet. Apparently, people want to know.
If someone were to ask me how they could be happy in life, I’d answer: “Become a Christian.” I’m sure I would meet plenty of eye-rolls with that response. You see, the prevalent view is that being a Christian is difficult. Outsiders imagine that, in order to be a Christian, you must be born with a halo, predisposed to saintliness, have extraordinary willpower, and enjoy austerity (By the way, none of those describe me!).
But nothing could be further from the truth. Being a Christian – walking with God – is the easiest thing in the world. It is what God created us for. Humans take to it like ducks to water. Like the right key in a keyhole. In fact, the whole structure of this world God created has been designed so that we can easily and happily walk with God.
God always sets us up for success, not failure. Being a Christian isn’t without challenges, of course, but it can be done. You can do it!
I’ve heard holier preachers than me say with serious faces, “God doesn’t care about your happiness.” I completely disagree. If fearing God and walking in his ways makes us happy, then God cares a great deal about your happiness. He loves you!
In a very unhappy world right now, I hope you will find happiness in the Lord this week.
See you Sunday and we’ll talk more about it!
Pastor Jim
