Is There a Shortcut to Learning How to Live Happily?

Q: Is there a shortcut to learning how to live life happily? – H.L.

A: More important than living happily is to live holy. This doesn’t mean that we will live perfect lives, for we are sinners saved by God’s grace, but He expects His followers to live righteously. Another way to say it is that we should live “wholly” for Christ, putting Him at the very center of our lives.

Most of us seek shortcuts to happiness. We search for the gold nuggets of spiritual satisfaction on the surface instead of in the depths, where they are found in abundance. It is only natural to follow the line of least resistance, forgetting all the while that heat and light are both products of resistance, a resistance which releases the latent forces of life.

Many of us are like the man out west who had a junkyard. He labored hard and long, buying and selling the old salvage he gathered from the back alleys of the city. But one day he discovered that his junkyard was located on an oil field. He hired a drilling crew, and soon the black gold flowed abundantly from the bosom of the earth. His junkyard was transformed into a veritable mine of wealth which knew no limits.

People often settle for just scratching around on the surface of life, picking up salvage in the form of gadgets, gold, and gimmicks. Because they ignore the challenge and the promise of these secrets of happiness, they miss the key to radiant living and remain spiritual paupers, submerged in a misery of their own making. They forget that what happens within them is more important than what happens to them. Because they have built no inner fortifications, they fall prey to the enemy. They become filled with resentments and are baffled by frustration and depressed by disillusionment.

To live devoted to the Lord pleases the heart of God, and it also brings us great joy.

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(This column is based on the words and writings of the late Rev. Billy Graham.)

(c)2020 BILLY GRAHAM DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.