Push the easy button

I have worked long, hard, and, (I am told), smart for many years and have strived to keep the Lord number one in my life, and as a result I have been blessed financially and have achieved a very high net worth. I am now in a position in life where I could purchase most anything that I want to buy, (within reason), and indeed I have bought some of those things that appeal the most to me. I suppose I am in a position that most folks would like to be in some day. This morning I would like to tell you the most important lesson that I have learned from my journey of starting out homeless and penniless and ending up with a very high net worth.

News flash – I have discovered that, “Money does not buy happiness”. Some of you are thinking, “Yeah right, well give me some and I will show you how to have a good time and be happy!” Ah but you are wrong. Pick up any tabloid at the news stand, (please say hi to my wife while you are there), and read about the super rich people of our world that are truly miserable; in fact some of the richest people that I know are the most miserable. According to the Bible, King Solomon was the richest man the world will ever know, and yet as one reads Ecclesiastes, he laments that it is all meaningless and similar to worthless sand running through one’s fingers. Material things just do not bring happiness. In fact when you can have anything you desire just by ordering it, truly it becomes meaningless. If you scrimp and save for months or even years and work hard and finally are in a position to buy that object, it is meaningful. Take it from me; I have been on both sides of that fence.

We see it happen all of the time, often to some ordinary Joe who is happily married and has been blessed with a couple of kids that he loves. His routine is to slug it out day after day at his blue collar job and after work perhaps go down to have a beer or two with his buddies and shoot a game of pool, or perhaps go take in a soccer game that one of his kids is playing in. Suddenly his world changes overnight. He hits the lottery and now has more money than Bayer has aspirin. Within months Joe has said adios to his wife and kids ala divorce, and has likewise bid adieu to his former buddies. After a brief period of living the “good life” all too often he goes on to commit suicide alone and miserable and disenchanted with the world and all it had to offer.

The same goes for those young athletes or beautiful people who become overnight movie stars with the huge contracts. They get the big wad of cash, then come the fast cars, the mansions, the boats, the planes, the furs, the diamonds, the artwork, the parties, the beautiful people, the sex, the alcohol, and the drugs, they get married and then divorced and then married and then divorced, in rehab, out of rehab, in rehab, out of rehab and suddenly they realize that in spite of their money, they are miserable. Why? Because like King Solomon two thousand years ago, they too soon discover that it is all meaningless, “Money will not buy happiness”. At some point they scream out, “Is this all there is?”

One reason that I love to read the Bible is because it answers all of the tough questions, (provided we will use the Bible to find the answers and then have faith and believe them). The Bible tells us that happiness comes from above and that the world and all that is in it cannot bring happiness apart from God. Jesus remarked one time “How hard it is for those who have riches to enter into the kingdom of heaven, for it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle as a rich man to enter the kingdom of God”. Some believe that this refers to a small opening in the old walls to Jerusalem whereby a camel heavily laden with goods was made to kneel and inch along in order to enter the heavily fortified city through the very small opening and thereby avoid opening the gates where an enemy could attack the city. The opening in the wall was referred to as “the eye of the needle”. It could be done, but it was exceedingly difficult. I’m not sure that meaning is correct; Jesus stated that the things which are “impossible” with men are possible with God. In other words it means to me that it is impossible for a camel to go through an eye of a needle unless God is miraculously involved in that rich person’s life.

Whatever the meaning of that phrase riches and the fleshly things of this world that they can buy, cannot bring happiness and could seriously hinder our quest to reach heaven if we focus on them, instead of God. We should not set our eyes on the riches of this world because the Bible states that they are perishing. When we face Jesus we will not be wearing a Rolex watch, nor will we take any T-bills with us. The only thing we will take will be our good works; all else will be ultimately destroyed. The Bible tells us that peace, joy, and true happiness come from Jesus Christ and Him alone. It refers to the peace from God as surpassing human understanding. I feel that peace from God more often than not and it is comforting to a level that with my small intellect I cannot find adequate words to describe it. Wonderful, soothing, peaceful, at ease, comforted, safe, content, loved, all are but pitiful examples of mere words that attempt to describe God’s peace and love and all are woefully inadequate to feeling His love and soothing peace first-hand.

Jesus owns the world, all that is in it, all of the universe and all that is in it, and beyond. He owns it all! And yet He describes Himself as being lowly and gentle. He promises to take care of us as His sheep, a beloved Shepherd who leads and guides us through this difficult world and He is the one who offers happiness. We must be willing to take His yoke upon us, but we are assured that His burden is light and His yoke is easy. Press the easy button today and accept Jesus as your Savior today; won’t you?

Matt. 11:28
Come to me all you who labor
and are heavy laden, and I will give
you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and
learn from Me, for I am gentle and
lowly in heart, and you will find
rest for your souls.
For My yoke is easy and My
burden is light.