Happiness Is
Not What We Think
An
interesting passage about
happiness is found in Eccl. 7:2:
“It is better to go to the house
of mourning, than to go to the
house of feasting: for that is
the end of all men; and the
living will lay it to his heart.
3: Sorrow is
better than laughter: for by the
sadness of the countenance the
heart is made better. 4: The
heart of the wise is in the
house of mourning; but the heart
of fools is in the house of
mirth.”
The
conclusion of verse three says,
“the heart is made better.” Of
course, the better the condition
of the heart, the more likely is
the salvation of the soul
belonging to that heart.
Salvation provides the ultimate
happiness. We are not talking
about the physical heart, but
the spiritual heart. We might
ask the question, “What is the
means by which the heart is made
better?” The answer is that
sorrow and sadness make ultimate
happiness more likely.
We humans
spend our days looking for some
distraction to bring us
pleasure, laughter or enjoyment.
But the wise man says that there
will be more ultimate happiness
if we spend time at the funeral
home rather than at a party
celebration. The reason this is
true is because “the living will
lay it to heart” (v. 2). The
close presence of death serves
as a worthwhile reminder that
death is near us all. Thus, we
will be constrained to prepare
for it. Peter said, in 2 Pet.
3:11: “Seeing then that all
these things shall be dissolved,
what manner of persons ought ye
to be in all holy conversation
and godliness…” That is, if in
our hearts we stay ever aware
that death can come at any
moment, we are more likely to
prepare for it by being sure our
soul is right with the Lord.
This certain knowledge then
brings us the “peace that
passeth understanding” (Phil.
4:7) or true happiness.
Next time we
want to protect ourselves or our
children from the awareness of
death, perhaps we should think
again and take the ‘happier’
course.
Mike Glenn
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