The Word of God on Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”--The Unanimous Declaration of the In the United States,we encourage people to pursue the path they think will best allow them to fully achieve these rights. Hundreds of different theories exist on the best way to get there. The Bible gives us some insight on the issue. Let's see what it has to say. LIFEDeuteronomy 32:46,47 Why did Moses refer to the Word of God as “your life”? Did he mean the Israelites would physically die if they did not obey the commands of God? Was he referring to spiritual life and death? Consider the context. Moses is about to die, physically. He has “finished writing in a book the words of this law from beginning to end.” (Deuteronomy 31:24) He just finished teaching them the words to the Song of Moses. The Song of Moses declares the work of God. What Moses has seen as he led the people of Israel out of Egypt and through the desert for the past 40 years. Moses is giving them a historical reminder of the past 4 decades from God's perspective. Now he is telling them these “are not just idle words for you -- they are your life.” Moses is telling them to remember the LORD. Remember who He is and what He has done. Moses tells them to live your life as God wants you to. Now rewind back to the beginning of Deuteronomy. In Chapter 5, Moses introduces the Ten Commandments, the beginning of the law. The same law Moses wrote “from beginning to end” in Chapter 31. After giving them the Ten Commandments, Moses pauses to see how they will be received. The Israelites respond by telling Moses, “Go near and listen to all that the LORD our God says. Then tell us whatever the Lord our God tells you. We will listen and obey.” (Deuteronomy 5:27) Moses does. He goes near to God, listens and writes it all down for the Israelites “from beginning to end.” But before he does, Moses tells them “The LORD heard you when you spoke to me and the LORD said to me, I have heard what this people said to you. Everything they said was good. Oh, that their hearts would be inclined to fear me and keep all my commands always, so that it might go well with them and their children for ever!” (Deuteronomy 5:28,29) I think this is what Moses was referring back to in Deuteronomy 32. He was reminding the Israelites that following all the laws of the LORD “from the beginning to the end” would result in abundant life. Not merely a physical existence, but “that it might go well with them and their children.” The LORD our God intends for life to “go well” for us. Not by the world's standards, not even by our own standards, but by His standards. There are a lot of things in the law of the LORD requiring discipline and hard work. It was not always easy for the Israelites, but it was always best. The same is true today. If I want to have the abundant life, I need to follow the commands of God. It's not always easy to “pray continually” or “give thanks in everything” or “rejoice always.” But it's best and will ultimately result in living the abundant life God has planned from me. Remember, “Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'" (Matthew 4:4) There is more to life than food. Words from the mouth of God are as important as the physical food. Words from the mouth of God result in life. LIBERTYJohn 8:31,32 In America, we think of freedom as the freedom to chose. I can chose who I want to vote for,. I can chose what kind of work I want to do. I can chose what I want to do in my spare time. We think of that as freedom. Jesus tells us freedom comes from knowing the truth. Most people would probably agree. The more knowledge we have, the better decisions we can make about how to exercise our freedoms. However, the choices we make have to be based on the truth. People want the freedom to chose what they eat, drink, smoke, snort and ingest. They want the freedom to look a certain way, act a certain way, and think a certain way. They believe they are doing what is best for them based on the truth they know. But what if the “truth” they know is wrong? What if it's an out and out lie? Then they end up with results they don't want. They made their decisions on incorrect “truth.” Jesus says He can solve that problem for us. Jesus says if I follow His teachings then I will learn the truth. I can't learn it though academic study. I actually have to take some action based on those teachings to experience freedom. For instance, I can understand in my head Jesus Christ died for my sins and as long as I accept His free gift of eternal life, I will spend eternity in heaven with God. I can intellectually accept this truth. I can pray a prayer or make a confession of faith. But if I continue to try to “do good things” in order to earn my way into heaven, I will not experience the freedom of the good news of Jesus Christ. Once I rest entirely in the finished work and payment of Jesus Christ, I can experience the freedom that comes from the truth. Now I can “do good things” because I am thankful to God for what He has already done. I'm no longer trying to earn my way into heaven. My position there is secure. I can focus on God and not “doing good things.” For 17 years of my life I was hostage to Satan. I had to do what he wanted me to do. I did not have another choice. Some people say they “do their own thing.” They claim to follow neither God, nor Satan. I would contend they are deceiving themselves. Matthew 25:33 says “He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.” It doesn't say “He will put the sheep on his right hand, the goats on his left, and those who did their own thing can chose where they want to go.” I don't think there is really “your own thing.” “My own thing” is a clever disguise by Satan . He has convinced me that some idea he planted in my mind long ago is now really “my own thing.” Remember, “the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does.” (James 1:25). Doing the perfect law of God gives freedom. Doing the perfect law of God results in blessing from God. Liberty is freedom. Freedom comes from knowing truth. The truth comes from the practical application of the teachings of Jesus Christ. There is no other way to be truly and completely free. PURSUIT OF HAPPINESSPsalm 19:8 Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary defines happiness as “a state of well-being and contentment: joy.” I'm choosing to use this definition for my discussion of the pursuit of happiness. Unfortunately, I don't think most people think of happiness as “a state of well-being” or “joy.” They think of happiness as an emotion or a feeling. The dictionary definition includes no mention of emotion or feeling. It's a state. As such, it's a choice. We can chose joy. That's why 1 Thessalonians 5:16 says “be joyful always.” Paul recognizes joy as a choice, not a feeling. A feeling is a response. A choice is an act of the will. I can chose by an act of the will to rejoice or to be joyful regardless of the circumstance. Happiness is often a feeling in response to favorable circumstances. If things work out the way I want, then I'm happy. If things don't work out the way I want then I might feel sad or mad. This is an incorrect view of happiness and joy. Happiness and joy are a choice. I can choose to be happy, no matter what happens to me. I can rejoice when awful circumstance come my way because I am confident that God knows what's best for me. David says “The precepts of the LORD are right, giving joy to the heart.” (Psalm 19:8) Precepts is another word for the LORD's commands. As is laws, statutes, decrees, ways, promises, truth, and words. David says the Word of the LORD gives joy to my heart. If I want to truly pursue happiness and joy, I need to pursue understanding the Word of God. I can only truly understand the Word of the LORD when I apply it to my life situations. I must act based on it. Remember, Jesus said, “if you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.” (John 15:10,11) Obey the commands of Jesus and your joy will be complete. THE PLANIf you want to gain an appreciation for the truth about achieving life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, invest considerable time learning and understanding Psalm 119. I once heard a speaker claim every verse in Psalm 199, all 176 referenced the Word of God. So I sat down with my Bible and checked to see if what he said was true. I found two verses I thought might not have a reference to the Word of God. It may depend on the translation I used. I'll let you make your own judgment. You can use what ever translation you like and see what you find. Maybe you will find the same two I did. Maybe you won't find any. Maybe you will find more. Regardless of how many verses you find that don't refer to the Word of God, you will find that nearly all 176 verses do contain a reference to God's word. Laws, statutes, precepts, commands, decrees, ways, promises, truth, words. There's lots of ways to tell God you appreciate what He says and David used all of these. Nearly 176 times. Add one verse from Psalm 119 to your quiet time each day. Meditate on that verse often through out the day. Memorize it if you are so inclined. At the end of six months you will have worked your way through all 176 verses. When you are done. Start over. Do it again for six more months. At the end of a year, you will have worked your way through Psalm 119 twice. A year of meditation in Psalm 119 will leave you with a greater appreciation for the entire Word of God. A greater appreciation for the Word of God that results in a greater investment of time in the Word of God will result in the fulfillment of your rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
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