NUGGETS ON THE INTERNATIONAL SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON

Experiencing True Happiness

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. —Matthew 5:6

Key Verse:—Matthew 5:1–16

Charles Schulz’s simple and classic bestseller, Happiness Is a Warm Puppy (San Francisco: Determined Productions, 1962), is one of many titles, humorous and philosophical, to try to capsulize the desire for bliss. A warm puppy in one’s lap may indeed provide temporary joy and peace. But puppies bolt and run. And puppies often grow beyond lap size and change demeanor. True happiness must be found in something more than things.
 

Jesus capsulizes happiness best in his Beatitudes. He knows the “secret” of living the truly blessed life. People may still equate happiness and contentment with things such as profitable stocks, prestigious neighborhoods, and better health insurance, and many in still believe such temporal blessings are the key to being called blessed.
 

The waiter brings the meals steaming hot from the kitchen and places them dramatically on the table. He looks around expectantly, hoping to see expressions of delight. Before he leaves, he pronounces the inevitable benediction: “Enjoy!”

Many seem to think that’s how God should act. He should deliver all the pleasures of “the good life” on a silver platter and say, “Enjoy!” But the more that people try to find happiness in wealth, power, and sensual pleasures, the more they are tortured with inner unrest. Why has God failed to deliver the happiness they really want?

When Jesus preached the most famous sermon in history, he laid out the basis of true happiness. In the Beatitudes, the opening verses of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus turned the usual ways of thinking upside down. Ignoring those who were complacent in their riches, Jesus commended those who knew their spiritual poverty. Spurning the proud and powerful, Jesus congratulated those who were gentle and merciful. Jesus emphasized character traits that have little value in the eyes of the world. But real happiness—eternal happiness—will be found only by those who believe in the values that Jesus taught.

Jesus not only taught the Beatitudes, he also modeled them. He is the meek and lowly Savior (Matthew 11:29) who wept for the plight of sinful people (Luke 19:41). He hungered for God’s Word and God’s will (Matthew 4:4; 26:39). He showed mercy from a pure heart; He made peace between us and God by shedding his blood on the cross (Colossians 1:20). He endured persecution, even a cross, because he knew the joy that was set before him (Hebrews 12:2).
 

Jesus demonstrated the virtues that bring true happiness. He showed that satisfaction comes from giving, not from getting. He showed that contentment comes from “who you are” before God on the inside, not “what you have” on the outside.

Beyond contentment in this life there is final happiness, eternal bliss in Heaven. Perhaps this final lesson from Jesus is the most important of all. True happiness will finally be gained when we are able to look beyond our present trials and see the ultimate satisfaction that only God can give. When we hear the Savior say, “Well done” (Matthew 25:21), we will know what happiness really is.

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