The ABC of Happiness

UV 1086/10,000 THE ABC of Happiness
If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.

John 13 v 17

The process of fulfillment or salvation is to know, to do and to be blessed. We need to know God personally, know His Word intimately and obey it diligently. The Lord knows how He has created and hard-wired us. We will not be happy if we pursue wealth, pleasure, fame, beauty or knowledge. We are happy only if we are in a state of union or oneness or fellowship with God. That oneness comes from knowing the Word and doing it. We are blessed when God finds us eager to please Him by doing His will. Abraham pleased God with His obedience to the point of sacrificing his only begotten son, Isaac. We may not be put to such a hard test. But each of us has to take risks in obeying the will of God for it will make us stand out in the crowd of conformity to human customs and beliefs. As they say in business, the bigger the risk, the greater the reward. Back in high school, I volunteered to do a chart on human happiness. At the time, I described friendship as being one of the primary causes or sources of human happiness. But today I realize that loneliness is not about not having friends. It is about not having a fixed and focused purpose in life. Once we have a purpose, it will bring us in touch with like-minded and purpose-driven people.

The word “ know” in scripture is not the same as empirical knowledge or knowledge that can be tested to prove certain assumptions. It is experiential knowledge. It is what we believe to be true. IF we believe it to be true that Jesus despite being the Lord and Heir of Heaven and the creator of the universe set aside His deity and became like a humble servant, we too should be willing to set aside our titles, comforts and entitlements and become a humble servant of God and of people. If we believe it to be true that we have been saved from eternal death by the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, we should be eager that others around us also gain this saving knowledge of Christ. The extent of our obedience and discipline determines the quality of our belief.

Our happiness does not come primarily from what happens to us or from our circumstances. Our happiness is derived from our beliefs and from the practices that our beliefs have led us into. Our happiness is derived from a set of inner attitudes. To sum up, our happiness comes from ABC or attitudes, beliefs and conduct. Beliefs define the life of the believer. Beliefs determine the character of the believer. Beliefs produce discipline in the believer. When I explained yesterday about a civil servant and Jewish exile called Daniel who served under several emperors of the ancient world who disciplined himself and refrained from eating or doing anything that defiled his faith, a senior retired civil servant said that example is so powerful that it should be told or taught to every probationer selected into the prestigious Indian civil services every year. Our beliefs and our obedience in terms of the discipline and sacrifice called for by our beliefs make us a powerhouse of positive influence beyond the limitations of time and space.

Prateep V Philip