Bobservations Column
by Pastor Bob Lawrenz
Thankfulness seems to be a key to happiness
in the scriptures. I can envision a door marked “Happiness.” There is a key to
open it. Our life mission is to possess the key, and then share it with others.
This is one of the messages of the Gospel. With our citizenship in heaven, the
focus of every Believer should be our eternal life with Him, and to share the
key with others is a desire of our hearts.
But there are millions of people who have
rejected Jesus, or unbelievably, who have not ever heard of Him, or who remain
apathetic towards Him. God has said that He will be found when we search for
Him with all our heart.
For those that reject God, they seek their
happiness in earthly places and Earthly relationships. A whole segment of our
culture just received a stamp of approval from the U.S. Supreme Court. Many of
them think this will be the key to their happiness: acceptance by their fellow earth-bound
citizens. The Apostle Paul has written that those who refuse to
worship God, and refuse to be thankful will end up with vain imaginations and
darkened hearts.
To be thankful, and to worship God keeps
our hearts bright and warm, and our imaginations clear and meaningful. When we
are in such a state, happiness overflows and a sense of profound contentment
washes over us. To be content is to rest from our labors, and look with
appreciation to all that we already have at our finger-tips. It is an end of
striving for bigger, better, newer, and the next “trending thing.”
Those feelings currently being enjoyed
because of a Supreme Court Ruling will be short-lived, and disappointing. Soon
enough, the daily grind sets in and socks or slacks have to be put on one foot,
or one leg at a time. Such a life turns into a roller coaster ride of highs and
lows, looking for and striving towards bigger, more frequent highs. It’s an
endless cycle, and often frustrating.
The difference between these two types of
happiness, involves one more component: Godliness. This brings and supplies a
profound sense of contentment that the neither the world, nor the Supreme Court
will ever bring.
I Timothy 6:6 –
“Godliness with contentment is great gain.”
