The Road to Happiness

Happy are they whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the LORD!

 - Psalm 119

Christ began his ministry with The Beatitudes, a listing of attitudes, beliefs, behaviors and practices, that will lead to happiness.

Happiness is what we all crave, right?

Here we have a recommendation from the writer of the Psalms (David, Ezra, or Daniel). It gives us the way to happiness; or at least, part of the way. If we can become blameless, we will be happy.

How to be blameless? Well, for starters, walk in the law of the Lord.

• Be honest
• Be charitable
• Assist widows
• Care for orphans
• Be kind to aliens
• Live in purity (sorry, world, this word always refers to sexual purity)
• Be smart financially
• Observe the Ten Commandments

We can also point to an uncountable, and growing, total of people that have done all of this, and more, and can affirm that, yes, they are happy.

We can also find a multiple of that same count, of people that never did the above, or attempted to, unsuccessfully, that cannot claim to be "happy."

I know that I can verify that the ways of the Lord lead to happiness. Period. 

But I love that the whole point of the Gospel, of God's plan going back to the Old Testament, is that He wants us happy. And He has shown us how to do it.