Religion can be an overridingly serious business. Now, I am serious about my Jesus. But so many of us have grown up on a steady diet of “thou shalt nots,” in which our religious teachers showed us what was off-limits rather than showing us how we might flourish in God’s love. Some of us grew up believing that we were meant for martyrdom more than merriment.
We’ve sat under teachings that created a dichotomy between holiness and happiness. Happiness seemed off-limits, even sinful. But take a walk through the pages of Scripture. Flip through the pages, and watch how words like happy, glad, feasting, pleasure, joy, and delight flash in front of your eyes.
Even when the words aren’t used explicitly, we know inherently that nearly every page of Scripture reveals the reason for a human being’s deepest happiness. On the pages of our Bibles, we see a faithful God, a sovereign God, a loving God, a delighting God, a listening God, a saving God, a redeeming God, a God who is “for us”—even a happy God.
“Be glad; rejoice forever in my creation! And look! I will create Jerusalem as a place of happiness. Her people will be a source of joy” (Isaiah 65:18). What kind of God creates Jerusalem as “a place of happiness?”
Our happy God. That’s who.
Reflect:
Read Isaiah 65:18. How does it help you today to know that God creates places of happiness?
Pray:
Have you viewed God as only serious, even angry? Or have you viewed God as being happy? Ask God to remind you of the parts of his character that exude delight, gladness, and happiness.
While we pray for peace, we need moral clarity about this war.
We’ve got little information on Jesus’ appearance and personality. But that’s the way God designed it.españolFrançais
After lobbying from fellow Southern Baptists and Christians affected by the war, the House speaker moves a package forward.
