May 21, 2004

[shooraijin]

In Rev. Doc's absence, I will be posting his devotionals (written before he left for his trip) for him from 17-28 May. -- S.

Happiness

Proverbs 14:21 "He who despises his neighbor sins, but happy is he who is kind to the needy."

We have the tendency to believe that if we just had a few more material possessions we would be happier in life. However, if you look at the lives of some of the wealthiest people in the world you will see that money cannot buy contentment.

There once was a king who had more money than he knew what to do with. He owned all of the land as far as the eye could see, several castles, and he ruled his land with an iron fist. But no matter how much he had, he never seemed to have enough and was a very miserable man.

One day he told his servant, "I want you to go out and scour the land, from one horizon to the other, and find the happiest man on earth, and bring me his shirt. Once I have the shirt of the happiest man, I will be able to be happy myself. And I don't want you to return without that shirt or you will be beheaded."

The servant set out about his mission and was gone for many moons. The king was getting impatient as he waited and waited. Finally, after many months of searching, the servant returned, on hands and knees, crawling before the king. The king noticed the servants hands were empty and became very angry. He told the servant that he had one minute before he was to be beheaded and he had better explain why he had disobeyed his orders. With tears in his eyes, the servant looked to the king and said, "Master, I did as you said, I searched from horizon to horizon looking for the happiest man on earth, and I finally found him."

So the king asks, "Why didn't you bring me the shirt of this man?"

The servant replied, "Master, the happiest man on earth did not own a shirt."

Happiness is not found in things, but in relationships. First our relationship to the Lord and then to those around us. Service to Him, service to others: this is what brings true joy.

Prayer: Ask the Lord to help you see past the "toys" of life and focus instead on finding happiness in what you can do as His instrument.

"I don't know what your destiny will be, but one thing I do know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who have sought and found how to serve." ~Albert Schweitzer

[wiggins]

Cool! Praise God!

[Debitt]

It's amazing how every time I come in here, Rev's got a devotional up that I feel like I really need~ Awesome.