John 13:12-17 – When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you? 13 You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.
THEME OF THE DAY: JESUS’ WAY TO A HAPPY LIFE. Ask anyone, “Do you want a happy life?”, and no one is going to respond, “No, I would rather be miserable, sad, depressed, and walk through life under a dark cloud of unhappiness.” We are wired by our Creator for happiness. It was so in the beginning before Adam and Eve brought the happiness killing disease called sin into the human experience. And it is still so after sin entered the world. We still crave happiness but the problem is we seek it in sin and all the wrong places. Why does adultery occur? Why don’t marriages last? Why do people go in debt beyond their means to pay? Why are people workaholics? Why do people jump around from church to church never settling into one place? Why do people get something new and before it is even paid for, they need an upgrade? The reason for all those why questions and I am sure many more is because we seek happiness in all the wrong places. And should we continue to choose roads to happiness outside of God’s direction, every turn will end at a dead end of unhappiness. In today’s scripture, Jesus tells His disciples the way to a happy life. He provides them, and us, three directions if we want to find what we are created for – happiness per the Creator’s design.
First, acknowledge, not in words, but in attitude and lifestyle, that Jesus is Lord and Teacher in our lives – “You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am.” The surefire way to live a shallow life of circumstantial and non-lasting happiness is try to live God’s will and yours. Miserable Christians are those who think they can claim Jesus as Savior but live life as they choose with a little sprinkling of Christianity in their lives. We must get this right or happiness will always be a temporary and fleeting experience. Jesus is Lord and if we are not living in that light, welcome worldly misery. Jesus is either Lord of all our lives or not Lord at all in our lives. He calls the shots, makes the schedule, and directs our paths to include our happiness.
Next, follow His example of sacrificial service to His people – “If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.” Are there Christians in your life I could call and they would tell me you have been a blessing to them by your service; of your giving of yourselves to encourage and help them grow in the Lord? There should never be a time the answer to that question should be difficult. Every Christian is a slave of Christ committed to serving other slaves of Christ. That is one of the primary ways we affirm we belong to Christ. And happiness is found not in serving ourselves, but in denying ourselves for others; just like our Lord Jesus did throughout His life.
Finally, in order to live a happy life as God intends, make obeying God’s Word a daily act of the will – “If you know these things, blessed (happy) are you if you do them.” Don’t miss what the Lord is saying. You may know your Bible front to back, quote verses right and left, win every theological debate under the sun, serve in a local church, and be miserable. Why? Jesus doesn’t say “Happy is the knowing Christian.” He says, “Happy is the knowing AND doing Christian.” Friends, our happiness in life is directly related to our active obeying of God’s Word. Make it a practice every day to read the Bible, and when commands confront us, pray and ask the Lord to help us make a plan to put those commands into our lives that very day. It will put us on the path to a life of lasting happiness as God intended.
Happiness. The Lord wants us to have it. It is up to us to pursue it as He described and if we do, we shall find it and life a happy life with Him before a watching world.
PRAYER: “Father, help me to see true happiness is found only in living life as Your Word directs”
QUOTE: “Avoid God’s direction for a happy life and whatever road you take will be a dead end.”