The pursuit of Happiness

Have you ever noticed that most of the activities that you pursue today are centered on
the words self and happiness. If I don’t like school then…if I am not happy in my job
then… if I don’t like the food my parents give me then… if I don’t like the church or
some of the people there then….if I don’t love my wife anymore then…getting the
picture?

One writer wrote “If you can’t get enthusiastic about your work, it’s time to get alarmed –
something is wrong. Compete with yourself; set your teeth and dive into the job of
breaking your own record. No one keeps his enthusiasm automatically. Enthusiasm
must be nourished with new actions, new aspirations, new efforts, new vision. It is
one’s own fault if his enthusiasm is gone; he has failed to feed it. If you want to turn
hours into minutes, renew your enthusiasm” – Papyrus.

The thing that’s striking here is lack of enthusiasm is one’s own fault. Which brings me
to the focus of this article, being the joy of the Lord that Christians are supposed to have
deep within their belly or spirit or as the bible says “…from his innermost being shall
flow [continuously] springs and rivers of living water” (john 7:38 amplified bible).

Could you remember the day you embraced the message of salvation and accepted
Christ Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior? Can you also recall the unexplained
joy and excitement you felt deep within as a new believer? At that point, you felt like
telling everyone around you about this new found joy when you accepted Jesus into
your heart. There was so much love in your heart to the point you were compelled to
ask forgiveness from those you were at odds with. You even apologized to those you
may or may not have a problem with because the joy within stirred you up to make
things right with everyone around.
During this time, nobody had to tell you to read your bible, you couldn’t wait to get into
the word and when you did, it was hard to put down your bible. You didn’t need a
reminder to attend church, rather you couldn’t wait to get there, and early to! No one
taught you how to pray, you just did without knowing it, or tell others about what Jesus
did for you, you naturally witnessed!
Now, when you look at your enthusiasm level in these areas has it intensified or
diminished? Do you notice if your joy or first love has increased, decreased, or
disappeared? Instead of you being joyful from within your spirit (without effort), you now
seek through human effort to have joy, which is really happiness or fun (not the God
kind of joy) through external activities and pursuits. Now your happiness in your
Christian walk and your life in general comes from indulging in a series of activities and
external distractions. Happiness is mainly flesh centered rather than spirit centered and
driven. If you compare how the world derives happiness (not God’s joy) to how you
obtain happiness is it different or is it the same? In the midst of living in this world are
you “not of this world” or are you part of the world? Has the care of this world rubbed
you to become more mature or has it choked out the life of the spirit within you and now
you are what is called a carnal Christian. One who performs all Christian activities with
The desire to attend church or read your bible has become a struggle and even a chore.
Now you find more pleasure in having a barbecue with friends or family, or participate in
an outdoor activity, go to a party or retreat similar in form as the world; maybe to a
movie, spend time with a best friend to gain some level of satisfaction and pleasure in
your soul (not spirit).
Where am I going with this you ask? Well, if you have to derive or seek happiness from
every other source apart from God, then you have lost the joy of the Lord and you are
not even aware of it. It’s like the frog that was placed in a pot of cold water on the stove
and slowly brought to a boil. The frog didn’t even notice how hot the water became and
eventually was boiled to death. In essence, you have lost your first love and think you
still have it, self deception initiated by the enemy. What you have is a form of religion
and still walking around with the label “Christian”, but you are void of the true nature and
divine life of God you ought to be experiencing daily as you drink from the eternal river
of God.
If you look at the parable of the “sower and the seed” therein lies a picture of your
situation.

Now you need someone to stir you or inspire you each time to get you into spiritual
motion – “a form of Godliness, but denying the power thereof”.