God Wants Us to be Happy

I’m reading a booked called 60 Days of Happiness, DiscoverGod’s Promise of Relentless Joy, by Randy Alcorn.

He basically shows us in the Bible that it’s Biblical to be happy and filled with joy.

He quoted Octaves Winslow who wrote: The child of God is, from necessity, a joyful man. His sins are forgiven, his soul is justified, his person is adopted, his trials are blessings, his conflicts are victories, his death is immortality, his future is a heaven of inconceivable, unthought-of, untold, and endless blessedness – with such a God, such a Savior, and such a hope, is he not, ought he not, to be a joyful man?

Alcorn says that some think God’s laws are burdensome, but that changes when they realize He intended them to secure our happiness. 

Which caused me to re-look at the 10 Commandments in that light.

 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.  You shall have no other gods before me.

You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. ⁵ You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, ⁶ but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.

You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.

 Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. ⁹ Six days you shall labor and do all your work, ¹⁰ but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. ¹¹ For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

 Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.

You shall not murder.

You shall not commit adultery.

You shall not steal.

You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

Think about it! If you steal, several things could happen. You could go to jail! You could live with the guilt. Or you might not feel guilty, so you go on keep stealing more and then eventually get caught. No happiness there!

Keeping the Sabbath. God is giving us a day off with His blessing! Time to enjoy Him and our friends and family. And rest!

Honoring your parents. Makes for harmony in your family. Also shows a great example for your own kids to get!

I could go on, but I think you get it! God’s rules are meant for our peace and happiness. So we don’t have to keep looking over our shoulder wondering if we’ll get caught, or wondering if we did the right thing, or avoid people because you don’t get along with them.

Psalm 119:127-130 Because I love your commands more than gold, more than pure gold,
¹²⁸ and because I consider all your precepts right, I hate every wrong path.
¹²⁹ Your statutes are wonderful; therefore I obey them.
¹³⁰ The unfolding of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple.