Everyone likes to be happy. Happiness is a good thing! But the way people seek to attain happiness is usually bad and ends up being a short lived form of happiness which is not the true thing. I noticed a strand of verses throughout Proverbs that had to do with this topic and I want to take the next 5 posts to share with you: Happiness in Proverbs. This will be part 1 of 5.
“Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding…She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her: and happy is every one that retaineth her.”
Proverbs 3:13;18
Happiness in Wisdom
One of the first sources of happiness is found in wisdom. However, not just any wisdom but rather the “wisdom that is from above” (James 3:17) This is the wisdom that God used to create all creation and everything therein (Prov 8:22-31). We are commanded, all throughout scripture but primarily in Proverbs, to seek this wisdom (Prov 2:4). And when we put forth the effort to seek and find it we are then happy!
We are also happy when we “retaineth her”. That is, you don’t just catch wisdom like a fish just to toss it back into the lake, rather, you retain it with you. Consuming, meditating, and using it always. It is in retaining wisdom that the above Proverb says we will be happy.
Christ Our Wisdom
Now we understand that Jesus Christ was the fullness that fills all in all (Eph 1:23). That, of course, includes the very wisdom of God. Paul actually makes it plain and simple in his letter to the Corinthians: “Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.” (1 Cor 1:24). Christ is the true Wisdom. Therefore we can be confident to take the above Proverbs and when it says: “Wisdom” replace the idea with: “Christ”. For there is no true Wisdom outside of Christ alone.
That makes the application of this particular source of Happiness quite simple: Seek Christ. And when you have found Him, cleave to Him. Therein is true happiness. And so long as you find yourself clinging to Him you will find happiness. Understand, though, that your goal is not happiness. Your goal is Christ Himself. And what you will experience as you seek your goal is happiness. Not as the end, but as a fruit of your walk to the end.
Action
- Praise God for the unsearchable riches of Christ and how much happiness is received when seeking Him.
- Confess to God your lack of seeking Christ alone and cleaving to Him.
- Ask God to inflame your desire for Jesus and open your eyes to Him.
- Read this post’s song: I’m Happy, so Happy!