What will make you happy? – Wednesday, 17 January

“Beware! Don’t always be wishing for what you don’t have. For real life and real living are not related to how rich we are.”
Luke 12:15 TLB

People seek after many different things. If you’re seeking after material things you’ll never experience true happiness. As long as you’re focused on what you don’t have and you’re wishing for it, you won’t be happy. Material things will never satisfy you; life is about more than riches. Everything you accumulate in your lifetime can burn, and you can’t take it with you one day when you die.  We need to learn to be thankful for what we have (be content) while we press on to receive more of the abundant life that Jesus came to give us (John 10:10). It starts with focus. Where is your focus? What are you seeking? If you’re seeking after stuff you’ll never be satisfied; you’ll always feel like you need more.

“I say this because I know the plans that I have for you.” This message is from the Lord. “I have good plans for you. I don’t plan to hurt you. I plan to give you hope and a good future. Then you will call my name. You will come to me and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will search (seek) for me, and when you search (seek) for me with all your heart, you will find me.”
Jeremiah 29:11-13 ERV – brackets mine

God has good plans for you. His plans for you are for a good future filled with hope. But these good plans and this great future are not just going to happen by accident. God’s will doesn’t automatically come to pass. He wills for you to have a good life, but if you make bad decisions or respond to circumstances negatively, you will limit His ability in your life. God wills that no one perish but that all come to receive Him and be saved (2 Peter 3:9). Sadly, many people perish, every day, in this life and in the afterlife. God’s good plans for you don’t happen by accident or automatically: you need to cooperate with Him. His amazing grace which brings salvation has appeared to all people (Titus 2:11) but not all people have believed, accepted and received this grace. Experiencing God’s good plans for your life (which is the only thing that will make you truly happy) starts with seeking Him with all your heart. It’s all about relationship with Him.

Seeking Him isn’t about religious service or holy living. It’s about getting to know Him through the Word and in prayer (talking to Him). It’s about learning to trust Him and allowing Him to lead and guide you. The Christian life is all about relationship with God (seeking Him). You can be a Christian and not seek God – but that only makes an unhappy Christian. If you want to experience the abundant life of joy that Jesus came to give you, then it starts by seeking relationship (friendship) with God.

“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”
Matthew 6:33 NKJV