I talk to many people today struggling to find this thing we call happiness.  Yesterday morning in church, we took a good look at ourselves as Americans and realized that the average household income in our county is greater than 1% of the wealthiest people in the world.   That being said, we find the old adage true:  money cannot “buy” happiness.

I just wonder if many of us are chasing the wrong carrot.  Instead of seeking to find “happiness” in this life, shouldn’t we be setting our sites a little higher?   Isn’t happiness just a fleeting emotion that will come and go with the circumstances of this life?   I am happy when my football team wins, unfortunately being a Cleveland Browns fan, that means most Sundays I’m not happy.  Shouldn’t our lives be rooted in things much more significant:  things that will matter for eternity?

I do not believe that God wants us simply to pursue happiness.  The pursuit of happiness was something dreamed up by our countries founding fathers.  Instead, God tells us that the key to being fulfilled in this life rests with us being thankful and content with what we have.  Contentment is not something that comes naturally in our lives. We, by nature, become easily unsatisfied – longing for something more.   However, it is this covetous attitude that steals our joy in this life.   If we could heed the instruction of our good friend Paul and could “learn in whatsoever state we are, therewith to be content”, how much happier would we be?  Just a thought.

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