Daily Inspiration
Oh Happy Day!
“The godly can look forward to happiness, while the wicked can expect only wrath.”
~Proverbs 11:23
What occurrence brings happiness to you? Would that possibly be a dinner out; a shopping spree; a day at the spa; or a fishing/camping trip?
A classical Sanskrit writer named Kalidasa, who is regarded as the greatest poet and dramatist in the Sanskrit language of India, wrote a poem titled, “Look To This Day” (Wikipedia). A few of the lines of the poem are: “For yesterday is but a dream...And tomorrow is only a vision...And today well-lived, makes...Yesterday a dream of happiness...And every tomorrow a vision of hope. Look well therefore to this day...Such is the salutation to the ever-new dawn!”.
I was driving one afternoon when a truck hurriedly passed and pulled in front of me to be one truck length ahead. On the tailgate of the truck there was a sign advertising a restaurant with the large letters: “Happy Hour 3-7”. I reflected on how many times people hurry in order to hopefully obtain happiness.
In a life of busy-ness and challenges it is often difficult to discover pure happiness but we all seek it. Martha Washington stated: “I am determined to be cheerful and happy in whatever situation I may find myself. For I have learned that the greater part of our misery or unhappiness is determined not by our circumstance but by our disposition”.
Paul learned the secret of living day by day and how to be happy regardless of his circumstances. In Philippians he stated: “I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little.
In Matthew, Chapter 5, Jesus taught various ways to achieve happiness. For example: “Happy are those who are hungry and thirsty for true goodness, for they will be fully satisfied!” (J.B. Phillips).
Dig deeper into His Word so you will be blessed by Him; “fully satisfied”; and happy! When lives and hearts are filled with faith in Jesus Christ, they are filled with His “goodness”; not yesterday, not tomorrow, but today, they will share their faith and happiness with other individuals.
“Look forward to a new day” because “this is the day the Lord has made, (so) rejoice and be glad in it”. Do not be like the person who was hurriedly pulling in front of vehicles in order to reach his destination to hopefully obtain happiness. For God's people, it is the Lord who is the true source to bless and to “fully satisfy”. You will achieve pure happiness the more you walk with Him and become like Him.
Lord God, thank You for being our true source of happiness. Amen.
~ Ann Brock Ludington
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