On the Happiness of Serving God (January 23)
Consider 2dly, how rich the just man is, not always indeed in those worldly possessions, which every accident may take away, and which can never satisfy the heart, but in treasures infinitely more valuable of virtue, grace, and merit, which all the money in the world is not sufficient to purchase; and which make the soul rich of eternity.
But the servants of God have a still greater treasure than this, viz. God himself, whom the whole world cannot take from them, as long as they take care not to drive him away, […]
Richard Challoner, Meditations, January 23
Hello Readers, hope all’s well. Time for another #shorts post.
Today I present a post based on a book I’ve often posted on before, but haven’t mentioned lately. And that would be the daily reader book, Meditations by Richard Challoner. It was published in 1753, so it’s very old school. But most of the time it’s a decent read.
You can read Meditations by Richard Challoner for FREE Here.
Anyway, the daily entry that inspired today’s post speaks to the subject of what true wealth is. What is it that we should value and seek out the most, while we have life in our bodies?? What should we want from life?? What is it we should want??
Well, I think most Christians and most of my Readers already know the answer to that. But let’s think about it. What actually makes a person rich in this life??
The Problem
The treasures of the world all have their own appeal, even for Christians. We know from the New Testament that we’re not supposed to lust and crave after the things of this world. But if we’re honest, we would all admit to being tempted to chase after at least one of the nice things to be found in this world: Luxuries, travel (which is a luxury), a nice house (comfort), cars, you get the idea. I could go on and on. We all have a temptation to certain things of the world, and if we did ever get our hands on them, we would enjoy them.
I’m sure we all can think of some nice worldly thing that we’d like to have. I’ll tell you what I would like: There’s a few different guitars I’d love to own. Maybe I’ll own one of those at some point, but even if I never do it’s OK, because it doesn’t matter if I get it or not. I know that no material thing from the world can make me happy. Oh, it can make me happy for some time, sure. I won’t deny that. But that happiness always wears off; it’s temporary, short-lived. The things of the world never make us happy forever.
That’s why if we look for satisfaction in the pleasures of this world, like riches, wealth, fame, women, and so on, we will always have temporary happiness but never real, long-lasting happiness. We get stuck in a never-ending cycle of chasing after the next worldly pleasure that won’t keep us happy for long. And so we have to keep going, and going, and going ….
How do we get out of this cycle?? And if the pleasures of the world don’t give satisfaction, how can we ever be satisfied?? The answer to that is simple: Only God can make us happy for life.
The Answer
Like I said in the intro, most Christians and most of my Readers already know the answer to this materialistic cycle. If we ignore the cycle, and seek out Jesus with all heart, we do get that lifelong fulfillment and inner peace. The Christian Path is full of difficulty and even danger. But if we stick with it, the Path yields more and more rewards as we keep going. That inner peace we enjoy only gets stronger. We see more and more of how Blessed we are to have Jesus in our lives.
We reach a point where we don’t need anything else. We could say it’s hard to reach this point, and I myself am not 100% there. But even now I can sense it and I’m more able every year to be content in Christ in all situations.
The more we put into our Christian Walk, the more we get out of it. And what we get out of it are Spiritual rewards that no money can buy.
Richard Challoner explains:
On the Happiness of Serving God (January 23)
Consider 2dly, how rich the just man is, not always indeed in those worldly possessions, which every accident may take away, and which can never satisfy the heart, but in treasures infinitely more valuable of virtue, grace, and merit, which all the money in the world is not sufficient to purchase; and which make the soul rich of eternity.
Richard Challoner, Meditations, January 23
Take note, as Challoner says, that all the money in the world isn’t enough to buy the Spiritual rewards we gain from following Jesus. Virtue, Grace, and merit can’t be bought. Grace in particular is only given by God. And these Spiritual rewards no money can ever buy enrich us both in this life and in Eternity.
But wait: There’s more!! It gets even better.
But the servants of God have a still greater treasure than this, viz. God himself, whom the whole world cannot take from them, as long as they take care not to drive him away, by willful sin. He is their protector, and their reward exceeding great. Gen. xv. He is always with them; he is a tender father to them, the eye of his special providence is ever upon them; his Angels encamp about them, to defend them, and deliver them from evil. […] he never forsakes those that do not first forsake him.
Richard Challoner, Meditations, January 23
The greatest reward from walking the Christian Path, the greatest reward anyone could ever ask for, is God. The more we seek God, the more He turns to us in response. The more we have Him in our life, the better everything is. He becomes our Father, Teacher, Guide, Protector, and more. Although we will still go through hard times same as anyone else, He will be with us always. He will walk with us. This is our greatest reward now, and in Eternity.
Seek True Happiness
Richard Challoner ends by telling us to seek no other treasure but God—the only True treasure. God will make us rich beyond our imagination, though not with the meaningless, temporary riches of this temporary world. We can’t take any worldly things with us when we die. So why would God enrich us with those?? The rewards God gives are Spiritual rewards—permanent treasures no one but God can give or take away.
And so it only makes sense to seek nothing else but Him. For only God can make us happy, but without God, nothing can make us happy.
O my soul, see you seek no other treasure but him. He will make you rich indeed. Fear no loss but the losing of him. If you have him, nothing can make you miserable, but without him nothing can make you happy.
Richard Challoner, Meditations, January 23
What Challoner doesn’t do in this day’s entry is cite Scripture. But there’s a very famous Scripture passage that speaks to this exact topic. And of course, that would be none other than 1 John 2:15-17. Don’t love this world or the things of this world. The things of this world are not of God, but the world. And this temporary world and everything in it is passing away!! But God is Forever, and so are those who do His Will.
(15) Don’t love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in them. (16) Everything that is in the world—the craving for whatever the body feels, the craving for whatever the eyes see and the arrogant pride in one’s possessions—is not of the Father but is of the world. (17) And the world and its cravings are passing away, but the person who does the will of God remains forever.
1 John 2:15-17 (CEB)
In other words, seek God first and only. Anything else we gain in life, consider it as a nice bonus. An extra little “present” from God to either make our journey a little more pleasant, or so that we can serve God better somehow. It’s OK to receive these things from God, in Gratitude. But we must always be ready to lose them or give them up at a moment’s notice if the LORD says so.
Because all the nice things the world has to offer are in the end only distractions from our True reward, which is God. Nothing this world has to offer can ever hope to compare to having God.
That’s it for #shorts Part 52.
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