"Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me." Matthew 25:40
Jesus taught that happiness lies in servanthood, in being useful to somebody, in loving and serving another. You don't necessarily find happiness in a high-salaried position or getting married or acquiring property. You don't find it in what the modern world has come to think of as being independent -- of meeting one's own needs first. Jesus thinks happiness is just the opposite of that: not being independent but being sympathetic and indispensable to someone.
Jesus Himself is the best example of the kind of happiness that makes itself useful to others. Because Jesus went about doing good, people flocked around Him, never leaving Him alone. This pursuit of happiness in life seeks day after day to give the best to someone who needs a lift. Despite His suffering, Jesus found the happiest moments of life going to the cross, carrying it for all of humanity.
Life is God's vineyard. Our purpose in it is to make an investment. When we take our eyes off ourselves, follow the example of Jesus, and gratefully do the Father's will, serving our heavenly Father by serving those around us, the result will be happiness.
PRAYER: Our Father in heaven, grant that we may find joy in serving others; for Jesus' sake. Amen.
(Devotions from "The Abundant Life" copyright 1998, CPH. All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be printed, reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission of Concordia Publishing House. Permission is granted for one-time e-mailing of this link to a friend. For information on other devotional material, please contact CPH at 800-325-3040 or visit CPH at www.cph.org.)
Today's Bible Readings: 1 Chronicles 13-15 1 Corinthians 9
To Download Devotion MP3 to your computer, right click here and select "Save Link As" or "Save Target As" or "Download Linked File As"