1. Happy Groundhog Day! Yup! Today is the day that our pudgy and furry groundhog friends get to make their prognostication concerning the impending arrival of spring. Of course, whether Punxsutawney Phil or Octoraro Orphie see their shadows or not, one look at the calendar shows to any sane individual that winter is not over ... not by a long shot! So bottom line, when it comes to forecasting the weather, these groundhogs are absolutely clueless!
Obviously, if we want to find a more accurate weather forecast, we will go to the so called "experts." And as one who follows weather forecasting closely, I must say that meteorologists are getting better at doing so. And what about forecasting other things ... say, like the stock market, housing costs, or the price of milk? Again, we turn to the professionals who track such things. You certainly aren't going to go and ask a fifth grader if you should buy or sell your Apple stock (even if they are smarter than you)!
And what of life in general? To whom should we turn for the forecast for our world? Hmmm. Perhaps the Creator of our world? Yup. That seems to make a lot of sense. After all, no one knows us and the world we live in as well as the one who made us and the universe! I encourage you to open your Bible (and if you don't have one, download the ESV Bible App on your phone or tablet ... or go buy a print Bible) ... and begin to read about the Creator's plan for us and the world we live in. Unlike the gophers who have no idea why they are awakened early every February 2nd and thrust into the spotlight, God KNOWS all there is to know about everything! And he has revealed all we need to know about making life work. Have you read from the Bible lately?
2. Yale University is offering a course on happiness this semester (Psych 157). Over 1200 students have registered for the course (which is roughly one quarter of the undergraduate enrollment). Now this is telling, is it not? Happiness is something the human heart craves ... but all too often lacks (a 2013 report revealed that over half of undergrad students at Yale had sought out mental health care during their time at the university).
Al Mohler, in his Daily briefing of yesterday, makes reference to this pursuit of happiness and how it relates to a Christian world view. He notes,
"The Christian worldview notably doesn't promise happiness, at least not happiness as may be defined here (at Yale University) in emotional terms. The Christian worldview as we see in the Gospel of Jesus Christ promises us joy rather than happiness, and joy is a very different reality than mere happiness.
Happiness is an effective emotional state. Joy is an assurance, the knowledge of who God is and what he has done for us in Christ, the knowledge that nothing can separate us from the love of God. There is a joy in the Christian life even in the absence of what the world would define as happiness or any reasonable expectation of happiness. I'm not saying that Christians shouldn’t be concerned about happiness and shouldn't allow themselves at times to feel happy. But we can't allow ourselves to set happiness as our ultimate goal, and furthermore in an age well described in this article just seeing it as an illustration, we can't fall into the false promise of believing that if we just made some minor tweaks in our life or just adopted some principles of positive psychology we can all of a sudden find happiness. It's not going to come that way. Ultimately, any happiness that human beings will know is not going to last in emotional terms. That's not reality, but joy and Christian assurance and confidence, yes. That is the promise of the Gospel, and it's something infinitely more real than mere happiness."
If Mohler's words have stirred in you a desire to learn more about the Gospel of Jesus Christ, please take a moment to check out Two Ways to Live: The Choice We All Face. It may prove to be the most important five minutes of your life!
Thanks for stopping by . . .
pj
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