Ever notice that when your cup of happiness is full, somebody always jogs your elbow? That is funny but true at times. But the pursuit of happiness is the pursuit that our early American forefathers called us to. “Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” It is in our spirits to pursue our happiness and in this pursuit, we often get lost in ourselves and end up looking around one day wondering how unhappy we are even when we achieve what we thought would bring us great joy. I think we falter in this because we do not understand our inner selves. We were created by a loving God that made us to have a saving relationship with Him. This great pursuit is not after something but someone. Matthew 6:33 unlocks this for us when Jesus calls us to “seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” Check yourself dear ones and see if your pursuit presently in your heart is after “something” or “someone” other than the Lord Jesus Himself. This pursuit after His kingdom rule and His righteousness will be a lifelong pursuit full of happiness and in turn whatever he adds to your life will bring you joy in this life and the life to come.
Jesus told us to seek Him in Matthew 6 around the issue of worry and anxiety of having all our needs met, I guess that is why we pursue happiness, we have needs. But fret not, you have a heavenly Father that knows you need these things, just pursue Him! An old man was asked what had robbed him of joy the most in his lifetime. He replied, “Things that never happened!” Someone has cited these three keys to happiness: 1) Fret not–He loves you (John 13:1), 2) Faint not–He holds you (Psalm 139:10), 3) Fear not–He keeps you (Psalm 121:5). Pastor Mark