It would appear that every normal person would want to be happy.    Can you imagine someone  wanting to go through life unhappy all the time?  Really, happiness brings true meaning  to life.  The framers of the Constitution of the United States realized that, and they  said that everyone had the right to life, liberty, and happiness.  Is that right?  Not  quite.  Life, liberty, and the PURSUIT of happiness.  The framers of the Constitution  were wise men.  They realized that no government could guarantee you being happy.  But  a government should guarantee you the right to pursue happiness.   Happiness is so important that one man said, "Life without happiness is not life at all." So man's search, therefore, is for life and happiness.

And, yet, happiness means different things to different people.    A man may watch another  man out on a lake, and he watches him all day long out on that boat.  And he may sit  there and wonder, "Why would anyone want to drown worms all day long?"  Now, the reverse  of that is the other man may watch this individual go out into a pasture field and walk  around in that pasture field for most of the day hitting a little ball.  He hits it,  then runs after it, hits it again, then puts it in a little hole, picks it up out of  there, and does it again.  Now, he's wondering, "Why in the world go walk in a pasture  field for so many hours chasing a little ball?"  So, happiness can mean different things  to different people.

There are some things that make us all happy.  As an example, we get an unexpected gift  from a friend or a loved one.  Now what wife wouldn't appreciate it if her husband,  driving home from work, was just thinking how much he loved his wife.  So, he stopped  and bought her some flowers.  Not because it was a special occasion, but just because  he loved his wife.  She would love that, would she not?  Even though it rarely happens,  it would make her happy.  For others, we hear a report of good news.  If a friend of  ours was ill, and they had an operation, and you worry about them.  And then, all of  a sudden, the report comes back, the operation was a success.  The person is now feeling  better than ever.  That makes you happy.  Receiving a service appointment makes us happy.     The day it's announced that we're a pioneer, or a ministerial servant, or an elder, that's  a day of happiness.  Or perhaps, a father is walking impatiently in the waiting room  of a hospital, and all of a sudden, the doctor comes out and says, "You're happy to know  that you're the father to a beautiful, newborn, baby girl.  Or a newborn baby boy.  Or,  you have one of each!"  You see, those are times of happiness.

However, those types of happiness are not the deep, lasting type of happiness that we're  talking about on this part.  These things bring us momentary, some of them even longer,  happiness.    But as many of you parents know, sometimes even children do not always bring  happiness.    Jesus realized that.  So in Luke chapter 11, when a woman said to him that his mother  must really have been a happy woman, to have borne the Son of God, this is what Jesus  said to her in verse 28 of Luke chapter 11.  "No, he said.  Rather, happy are those  hearing the Word of God and keeping it!"  Now, he's talking about a deeper, lasting  happiness.

Do you see the main three words of the Scripture there?  He talks about  hearing the word of God, then the second thing is keeping it, or applying it.  The benefit  is happiness, lasting happiness.    Now, we hear the truth of God's word.  It's information concerning Jehovah's purposes  for the earth, the issue of universal sovereignty, the good news of the kingdom, the  salvation that will come because of the ransom sacrifice of Jesus.  We learn about the  Kingdom hope, and all the laws and principles contained in that hope, and the counsel   that we need so we can live forever.  We hear this message.  But that's only the   beginning.  The second part is keeping these words.

The  word "obedient" defined in the  Insight book, says this:  "the  submitting to authority, the doing of what is commanded,   the  complying to what is required.  Or, abstaining from what is  forbidden."  Then, they  give some examples.   Oftentimes, the word used in the Bible instead of 'obedient'  is 'listening' to someone.   That means hearing and doing, not  simply hearing.  As an example, it says that Adam  'listened  to his wife.'  He heard what she was saying, and he did what  she wanted.  So,  he was obedient to her, or he listened to her.   On the other hand, you may remember that Joseph would not listen  to Potiphar's wife.   She wanted him to be immoral; he wouldn't  listen.  He heard, but he didn't act on it.   Also, Abraham  listened to Jehovah.  That means he heard what Jehovah said,  and then he  did it.  He listened to Jehovah.

Now, that really is the key to being happy.  This lasting  happiness that we're talking  about is hearing Jehovah, and then  doing what Jehovah says.  Really, this type of  happiness that  we're talking about is not something that you can actually grab  a hold  of, or pursue it in itself.  But, rather, the Bible's  happiness is a by-product of knowing  and serving Jehovah.  That  means hearing what Jehovah has to say, and then applying it.           It is a by-product, it comes from doing these things.  And we  often see how that is true  when we bring the words of truth  to an individual.  Most of us have seen cases where  our Bible  studies, after a while, really start to look forward to the  study.  And they're  smiling and saying how much they enjoy the  Bible.  And it's bringing happiness to their  life.  They begin  to feel it throughout their life.  Now, it these individuals  continue,  their happiness continues.  But we've also seen how  some people don't do that.  Sometimes  the Bible study will stop,  usually because they don't want to DO something.  It isn't  really  they they don't understand something, although they'll often  say that.  But that's  usually not the problem.  The real problem  is, they don't want to DO something.  So then,  we go back and  visit them 6 months later, are they happier now that they're  not doing  it?  No, they're less happy, are they not?  A year  later, even less happiness.   And we see that the same thing is true with many of our brothers  and sisters.  At one  time they did the will of Jehovah, and  now they're not, but are they happy?  I know I  go on these  shepherding calls; I don't find these ecstatic people who are  doing nothing.   They're not happy.  This is because there is  no LASTING happiness apart from serving  Jehovah.

I remember meeting a man by the name of James, a man down in  Mississippi.  James was  originally from Mississippi, but them  he moved to Cleveland.  While he was in Cleveland,  as James  put it, he didn't have 'a regular job.'  He lived off the street.    And James  was big enough that he could live off the street.    Gambling, drugs, whatever it took.   He was 6'5", he probably  weighed around 260 to 270 pounds, and he was a muscular man.         James made good money off the street.  Well, James said that  one day, he and he 'wife',  and we have to put that in quotes,  it was the woman he lived with, decided they needed  something  spiritual in life.  So they went to a church.  James said that  after the church  service, the minister had recognized him and  told him, "James, if you keep coming to  church, we'd like to  have you as a deacon in our church."  Well now, James knew the  kind  of life he was living, and he knew God didn't need anyone  like James.  Well, a little  bit later, James started studying  the Bible with Jehovah's Witnesses.  He recognized  the truth  of the Bible, and James wanted to serve Jehovah.  Right away,  he wanted to  go out in service.  The brothers said, "Well, no,  James, you're going to have to qualify."   Well, as James put  it, they didn't tell him everything at one time; that would  have been  discouraging.  So what they would do is tell him two  or three things that he would have  to do, and when he had those  done, then, as James put it, "they would take me to the  little  room", which meant they would take him to the library and talk  about a couple  of more things he could work on.  He'd work on  those, and then they'd take him to the  'little room' and tell  him a couple more things.  And, finally, the brothers talked  to  him and said, "All right, James, now you can go out in  service."  He was thrilled.  He  bought himself a new suit, new  book bag, Saturday morning he was there bright and early.    They  had the meeting for service, and it just so happened, one of  the smaller elders  was there, and said, after the meeting for  service was over, "James, we've got to talk."   And, as James  put it, "He took me to the little room."  And he knew he was  in trouble.   The brother said, "James, we understand that before  you came in the truth, you were  married years ago down in  Mississippi.  Is that right?"  He said, "Oh yes."  The elder  asked him, "Did you ever get a divorce from that wife?"  James  said no.  But he had  married this other woman.  So he really  a bigamist.  So he told him, "Sorry, James, but  you won't be  able to go out in service."  Now here's a man who made his living  off the  street, a huge man, as he told me, it so hurt him that  he began to cry.  And he cried  so hard that he couldn't even  drive himself home; he had to walk home.  Here's a man,  6'5",  walking home, crying, because he could not go out in service.    Now, did that  discourage James?  No!  He knew what it was going  to take to be happy; he wanted to do  Jehovah's will.  So, he  went down to Mississippi, found the woman he had been married  to, got a legal divorce, came back, remarried the woman, then  he started out in service.   He got baptized, and within a few  months, he was an auxiliary pioneer, then later he  became a  regular pioneer, and by the time I met him, he was down in  Mississippi serving  where the need was greater, going through  the Pioneer Service School.

James was a happy man.  His happiness came because he heard the  word of Jehovah, and he  also DID it.

Sometimes, though, when  an individual stops being busy, he starts to look  at things  differently, and sometimes even complain.  Sometimes, we hear  people say, "Did  you hear that brother's talk?  I'll tell you,  on my worst day I could have given a better  talk than that."    Or, perhaps, the elders are going to do something around the  Kingdom  Hall and someone says, "Oh, my!  These brothers just  don't know what they're doing.   I'll tell you, there's a better  way to do this."  Now, our point to individuals like  that is  this:  We would really love to hear that talk.  We really would;  no doubt you  could give a better talk, and we'd love to hear  it.  And we'd like to hear this better  idea; we're always open  to better ideas.  But first of all, you've got to listen to  Jehovah.  That means, you've got to HEAR, and then you've got  to DO what Jehovah says.   Then you're in the position where  you can be used.

You see, it's very easy to sit back and criticize.  It's totally  something else to do  something about it.  It reminds me of a  woman who was at a stoplight, someone was behind  her, the light  turned green, and her car stalled.  So she's trying to start  it, the man  behind her is honking, honking, honking.  She's  trying to start it, trying to start it.   Finally, the light  turns red, he's still honking.  So she gets out of the car,  walks  back, and tells him, "I'll tell you what, why don't you  go up and try to start my car,  and I'll sit back here and honk  awhile?"  It's a lot easier to do the honking, isn't  it?  So,  for all of our brothers and sisters, it's a lot easier to be  complaining about  things.  But the Bible shows that happiness  comes when we DO things.  It is a by-product  of knowing and  serving Jehovah.

Now, there are certain enemies of happiness we all have to watch  out for.  These things  will rob you of the deep happiness of  Jehovah.  One that the Society wanted us to mention  is excessive  recreation and entertainment.  Realize that the world's view  is the opposite  of the Bible.  Basically, the Bible says that  it's good 'for a little.'  Remember 1  Timothy 4:8, bodily  training is beneficial for a little?  The world says, 'the more  you  do, the happier you're going to be.'  And that's not really  true.  We see people in the  world pursuing happiness, and have  you ever noticed that they have to go from one pursuit  to  another?  They're never really satisfied.  It's kind of like  getting the thrill out  of a certain sport.  A few years ago,  it was hang gliding, then sky diving, right now  it's bungee  jumping.  The sensation of falling through space, then feeling  the jerk upward  that it has for you.  Now, individuals who do  this find that, the more they do it, the  less of a thrill it  gives.  For example, if you're jumping from 100 feet, you can  only  do that so many times for it to cause a thrill.  So, maybe  what you have to do is go  200 feet, or get closer to the ground,  make it a little bit more exciting.  Some get  so close that  they actually bounce.  They don't plan on it, but they start  bouncing.   I'm told that now, there's 'reverse bungee jumping',  and that's where they shoot you   like a slingshot.  Sometimes,  though, they hit they hit the apparatus that the bungee  cord  is attached to, and that doesn't feel too good.  But, the point  is, they're trying  to do something different, more and more  exciting, but it soon wears out.   The Watchtower of August 15, 1992, mentions that recreation  and entertainment should  be used like salt.  A little salt  enhances the flavor.  But have you ever put too much  salt, even  on a good steak?  Too much salt ruins it.  And that's what  recreation and  entertainment can do.  When you're young, you  don't think so.  But it's really true.   You have to have balance  in that regard, or else it will rob you of your happiness.

Another enemy of happiness is bad association.  We all know  what the Bible says about  bad association, it "spoils useful  habits."  But remember, the first part of that verse  says, "Do  not be misled."  It's so easy to get misled into thinking that  certain types  of bad association are not as bad as other types.   The Society particularly noted  excessive association with worldly  relatives and work mates.  Now, why would they put  in worldly  relatives?  Now, pleas brothers, we're not saying you should  never visit with  your worldly relatives.  We're not saying that.   But sometimes, we're doing so much of  it that it could have  a bad effect on us.  But why?  Well, oftentimes, what we do  is  make a bargain with them that doesn't really sound very  Christian.  Here's often what  happens:  a relative will say,  "Now you can come and visit any time you want, as long  as you  don't bring any of that garbage with you."  Now what is the  garbage they're talking  about?  The Bible.  You can't talk to  them about the Bible.  You can't talk to them about  the truth.   Don't bring any of that garbage.  Now, may I add this:  I don't  believe we  should try to force it down their throats, I don't  believe we should go and throw pearls  before, you know.  We're  not to do that.  So why talk about something they don't want  to hear?  But so often, that's where the bargain ends, you can't  talk about the Bible.   Do you say to them, "Well, fine, now  you can't use any of your bad language or tell any  dirty stories,  no smoking around the children.  Do you give them a list of  things they  can't do?  If you do, then what do they decide?   They decide they don't want to associate  with you.  Isn't that  interesting?  THEY will make that decision.    They don't think  you're  good enough association because they can't use their  foul language, their immoral talk,  and so forth.    When family  members stab you in the back, they can twist the knife worse  than anyone else, can't they?  It can rob you of happiness.   Now again, we're not saying,  'Never associate.'    But guard your  association, and guard on what level you would  associate with  them.

Another problem that we often see that robs our brothers of  happiness is they get too  close with the world.  And that's  often evidenced by their dress and grooming.  It's  a visual  evidence that a person has too much of a love for the world.    Now, we don't  want anyone to think that if a sisters wears a  short skirt, she's immoral.  We don't  want to think that if  a brothers wears some kind of weird hairdo, that he's immoral.         That's not the case.  The problem is that that person loves  the world so much that you  want to be like it.  There is the  real problem, that the world can tell you how to dress.

Think  about this:  do the designers of this faddish clothing really  care about what you  look like?  No, they don't care about how  that hairdo looks like, they don't care about  how that dress  looks.  They want to make some money off of you, and they've  got to change  things every year or so, so you'll change your  outfit and buy new things.  They're not  really concerned about  how you look.  You see some of these hairdos of these people  who  have money, you know they don't care what you look like.    They just want something  different there.

Now, the danger of getting so close to these things can be  illustrated by an experience  I had this past summer, when I  was working with a brother in service.  It was in the  heat of  the summer, near 100 degrees, with high humidity.  I had on  a short sleeve shirt  and a tie, he had on a long sleeve shirt  and tie.  And it was hot with the short-sleeve  shirt on, and  I asked him, "Brother, why do you have on a long-sleeve shirt?"    Well,  he rolled up his shirt and showed me.  There were tattoos  there.  Now, how did he get  those tattoos?  Well, he was in the  military, and one night, he and some of the other   boys had had  a few drinks, and they decided that the 'manly' thing to do  is to get a  tattoo.  That's what men do.  They get a tattoo put  on their arm.  Well, he got a tattoo  put on there, since it was  the manly thing to do.  And I've forgotten what the name on  there was, Martha or something like that, as well as a few other  things he wasn't too  proud of.  You see, he's not married to  Martha.  But, it still says Martha there on his  arm.  Now, he  doesn't like all of the other things on his arm, so he has to  wear a  long-sleeve shirt.  But, you see, at the time that was  the thing to do, wasn't it?  It's  just like today, some people  put three or four holes in their ear--that's the thing to  do!    But what do you do later?  Try to heal them over?  Maybe they  will.  Maybe they  won't.  Sometimes we're so close to the world,  we do whatever they want, but it's the  results of what's going  to happen to you in the future.  You see, he was probably pretty  happy with that nice tattoo, no doubt showed Martha that tattoo.    Mary, who he's married  to, probably doesn't like Martha there.    That was momentary happiness; the Bible offers  lasting happiness.

The point is, when we get too closely tied to the world, the  world will make a fool out  of you.  It will make you its slave,  make you do things that are foolish that you will  regret, often  for the rest of your life.  Again, we don't think that your  hairstyle or  what you wear makes you an immoral person, but  it so often tells us just what type of  person you are.

We hope that all of you brothers and sisters appreciate that  true happiness can only  come from knowing and serving Jehovah.    That's a deep, lasting happiness, not the momentary  happiness,  laughter, that comes after a joke, but deep, long-lasting  happiness is a  by-product of knowing and serving Jehovah.   I like the way the Society a few years ago put it.  You can't  pursue it, you can't grab  a hold of it.  They likened it to  chasing a butterfly.  They said, "Happiness is likened  to a  butterfly.  If we enthusiastically run after it, trying to catch  it, it will elude  us.  When we put it out of mind, peacefully  carrying on according to God's will, the  butterfly of happiness  will come and settle on your shoulder."   So, happiness is a by-product of knowing and serving Jehovah  God.  If you will continue  to listen to Jehovah, if you continue  to apply his word in your life, you will find the  source of  true happiness, a happiness that will never end.

--To be delivered in 30 minutes