Anthony Seldon, headmaster, of Wellington College, a boarding school in Crowthorne, England, is proud of a new class about happiness being offered to his 14-16 year old students. “I can imagine this taking off in British Schools,” he said. “We have been focusing too much on academics” (World, April 20, 2006).

Certainly it shouldn’t hurt students to have a class on happiness, but they should be taught that happiness is more of a byproduct than something that can be sought directly. The Declaration of Independence said we have the right to the “pursuit of happiness,” not happiness itself. Henry David Thoreau said “Looking for happiness is like clutching a shadow or chasing the wind.”

Do you remember those cartoons that used to appear in the paper called “Happiness is ________”? What appeared in the cartoons was often trite, but it is true that happiness is often found in the smaller things of life. What is important, however, is the focus of life. If we want true happiness, it will be found in loving the right thing. Bo Matthews said, “Joy is a flower that grows only in the soil of love. Love gold and gold will give you joy. Love pain and pain will give you joy. Love God and God will give you joy. Love God more than anything else, and He will give you more joy than anything else.”

“And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing” (Acts 8:39). How did the Ethiopian eunuch find joy? He obeyed the gospel of Christ, and knew that his sins were forgiven, he had fellowship with God, and that heaven would be his home. Having served the disciples, Jesus said, “I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you … If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them” (John 13: 14, 17). Follow in His footsteps!

Happiness
By Bob Prichard
www.oxfordchurchofchrist.com