March 2003
"HAPPINESS AND JOY"
Like me, you probably get some interesting (and some not so interesting) items in the mail. I received this one last week. "BYE-BYE BILLS" was on the top of the pamphlet. At the bottom, "HELLO HAPPINESS!"
Perhaps there are some few who have no bills. It is not necessary to go to college or attend a university to understand the word bills. To say "bye-bye" to bills is an attention getter all of us understand.
What was meant to be the appeal of "Hello happiness!"? Does this mean that one way to be introduced to "happiness" is to have one*s bills all paid? Does this mean that I won*t ever have to be concerned with a bill collector or receive a statement through the mail?
The person who designed this yellow and black paper advertisement for this bank wanted to get every receiver*s attention in a very short span of time. It got my attention. And it gave me an idea for an article.
Is "happiness" based on you and I having all our bills paid? If that is the only way one can be happy, then it seems to me that life is rather shallow. Not that having all of one*s bills paid is not important. It is.
My understanding of "happiness" is that it is spelled a different way for the Christian. In fact it is spelled with only three letters. Those letters are J - O - Y.
The writer of the book of Hebrews put it this way about Jesus. "Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the JOY that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame..." (Hebrews 12:2a)
The Apostle James writes, "My brethren, count it all JOY when you fall into (encounter) divers (all kinds of) temptations." (James 1:2) (Words in parentheses are mine.)
Didn*t the chorus writer write, "The JOY of the Lord is my strength"?
I don*t doubt that it is "happiness" to say "bye-bye" to bills. Where does "happiness" go when all of the bills are paid? That*s where, for the Christian, the JOY comes in and remains.
your friend and Pastor, John
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