Luke 4:4

And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.

Shortcuts to happiness

The above scripture brings to mind the story of Lazarus and the rich man who would not give him any crumbs from his table. I can only imagine the thoughts that must have run through Lazarus’s mind as he begged for just a crumb because he was hungry. Even though Lazarus received nothing from the rich man, God’s Word tells us that Lazarus had something greater. He had God and eternal salvation, something that the rich man knew nothing about. I cannot help myself imagining the rich man looking up in Hell as the Bible tells us, to ask for only one drop of water to cool his tongue. Even more important, he also wanted to warn his family not to come to this awful place called “Hell”.

Do you think that the rich man was happy with all of his wealth? Do you think that Lazarus shed some tears over his situation and hunger? Do you think the rich man shed some tears over Lazarus? It no doubt is a sad scenario. However, it is not much different today.

I feel that there is nothing wrong with being wealthy if we use what we have for the good of others and if we do not allow greed to take over our lives. Maybe the rich man may have thought that he had all he needed and found a shortcut to happiness. Maybe he was a happy person, but the Bible does not speak of this to my knowledge. The world today is seeking happiness through everything but God. Knowing Christ Jesus is the only way to get to Heaven. After death, the Bible tells us that we all will face judgment. We all have mountains to climb in this life. Maybe your mountain might be alcohol, drugs, divorce, abuse, lust, and many other things. I will tell you these are not the shortcuts into Heaven because there are no shortcuts to Heaven. There is only one road that leads to eternal life and that is through Jesus Christ. Yes, there may be many things that do make us happy here in this life and God wants us to prosper; not suffer. It is when we turn money into our God that changes everything. We are to worship the Almighty and Anointed One, Jesus Christ, and Him only. There is a road map to Heaven and it is God’s Holy Word. That is the true and only shortcut to finding “real-life” happiness. God is bigger than any problem that we might face. If God can hold the Milky Way in the palm of His hands in this wide-open universe He has created, then surly He can carry us through all of life’s obstacles.

Inspirational Journeys is written by:

Charlotte K. Berger

Contact her at: cberger@thecherawchronicle.com