We all want to be happy. Our Constitution even tells us that we have the unalienable right to pursue happiness. But our culture has elevated the pursuit of happiness to one of the highest goals of life. In fact many believe that we have the right, not just to pursue happiness, but to be happy.
To make matters worse, our culture offers us a misguided approach to happiness— more money, freedom, fame, and self-indulgence. Paul the apostle warns us that these things actually lead to suffering not happiness, “Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction.” (1 Timothy 6:9)
But Jesus has something much better for us than being happy. He wants us to be blessed! In Matthew 5 He starts off the famous Sermon on the Mount with a list of radically counterintuitive statements, “Blessed are the poor in spirit… those who mourn… the meek… those who hunger and thirst… the merciful…the pure in heart… the peacemakers… and the persecuted.”
The word “Blessed” in the original Greek is “makarios.” According to Theological Dictionary of the New Testament “The special feature of the term makarios [blessed] in the New Testament is that it refers overwhelmingly to the distinctive joy which accrues to man from his share in the salvation of the Kingdom of God.”
The blessing Jesus is talking about isn’t just fleeting moments of happiness. It is a joy that comes from being a citizen of the Kingdom of God. It is an undeniable, unshakable, deep down in your bones JOY for those who are living under God’s sovereign care. It is a blessing beyond happiness that only comes from knowing that our loving Heavenly Father is in control.
This kind of joy never backs down, it doesn’t give ground, refuses to crumble under pressure and stress, and never surrenders to the hardships and tragedies of life. It stubbornly sticks around through every season of life because God is right there with us through everything.
Fullness of joy is the byproduct of a life fully submitted to God’s sovereignty and becomes sort of a litmus test for our degree of participation in God’s Kingdom.
So, let me ask you, “How has your joy been lately?”
To make matters worse, our culture offers us a misguided approach to happiness— more money, freedom, fame, and self-indulgence. Paul the apostle warns us that these things actually lead to suffering not happiness, “Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction.” (1 Timothy 6:9)
But Jesus has something much better for us than being happy. He wants us to be blessed! In Matthew 5 He starts off the famous Sermon on the Mount with a list of radically counterintuitive statements, “Blessed are the poor in spirit… those who mourn… the meek… those who hunger and thirst… the merciful…the pure in heart… the peacemakers… and the persecuted.”
The word “Blessed” in the original Greek is “makarios.” According to Theological Dictionary of the New Testament “The special feature of the term makarios [blessed] in the New Testament is that it refers overwhelmingly to the distinctive joy which accrues to man from his share in the salvation of the Kingdom of God.”
The blessing Jesus is talking about isn’t just fleeting moments of happiness. It is a joy that comes from being a citizen of the Kingdom of God. It is an undeniable, unshakable, deep down in your bones JOY for those who are living under God’s sovereign care. It is a blessing beyond happiness that only comes from knowing that our loving Heavenly Father is in control.
This kind of joy never backs down, it doesn’t give ground, refuses to crumble under pressure and stress, and never surrenders to the hardships and tragedies of life. It stubbornly sticks around through every season of life because God is right there with us through everything.
Fullness of joy is the byproduct of a life fully submitted to God’s sovereignty and becomes sort of a litmus test for our degree of participation in God’s Kingdom.
So, let me ask you, “How has your joy been lately?”