Not all that related as we might think

Thursday, October 3, 2024

If you lived here, would that make you happy?

What would make you give thanks?

What would bring you to give thanks?

Isaiah 44:24-26

Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer,
who formed you in the womb:
I am the Lord, who made all things,
who alone stretched out the heavens,
who by myself spread out the earth;
who frustrates the omens of liars,
and makes fools of diviners;
who turns back the wise,
and makes their knowledge foolish;
who confirms the word of his servant,
and fulfils the prediction of his messengers;
who says of Jerusalem, ‘It shall be inhabited’,
and of the cities of Judah, ‘They shall be rebuilt,
and I will raise up their ruins’;

2 Peter 1:19

So we have the prophetic message more fully confirmed. You will do well to be attentive to this as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.

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Words of Grace For Today

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When God created, God promised many things. Here God promises that Jerusalem and the cities of Judah shall be rebuilt.

Does God ever promise us happiness?

Yes, I suppose many times over.

But is there a link between happiness and giving thanks?

Do we need to be happy to give thanks?

If we are happy will we give thanks?

If we give thanks will that make us happy?

If we have all that we can dream of, will that make us happy?

If we have all that we can dream of, will we finally be thankful?

At first glance one may think these relationships exist, but

they really do not

and there is endless evidence of wealthy people ‘with everything they could ever want’ being the most unhappy and thankless people on the earth,

and

there are millions of people who have almost nothing, not even the basics of life or security, who are both happy and thankful.

Perhaps the link is that God gives us everything good, happiness included, and when we realize that

we cannot help but being thankful for all the good things God gives us.

For life is corporal, and does require the basics for us to live on.

But life is only partially corporal, and the rest of life is what makes or breaks us being happy, and thankful.

These non-corporal things are all gifts from God.

We cannot attain them or possess them, not by our own efforts or otherwise, except that God gives them to us.

We can wake up each day, each minute, and realize again

how much God gives us

that makes us happy, that brings us to unavoidably be thankful.