A Checklist for Lasting Joy

“Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

This phrase comes straight out of the U.S. Declaration of Independence. Citizens of the United States consider them as inalienable rights. The right to life. The right to liberty. And the right to the pursuit of happiness. And they are rights to be claimed so that U.S. citizens can live in and enjoy the freedom of their country. But happiness? The promise is not to attain it . . . but to pursue it.

Happiness, though, rarely likes to stick around. I mean a lasting happiness, an unshakable sense of contentment, an abiding bliss. It’s the kind of happiness that stays truly satisfied because of an inner peace deep within, regardless of circumstances. Have you ever stopped to think how few people have truly found happiness?

But happiness is worth pursuing despite its tendency to vanish like a puff of smoke. Admittedly, to some, finding happiness is too good to be true. In one way, it is . . . if we’re looking for it in the wrong places. So here’s the plain and simple truth I want to emphasise: Only by knowing Jesus can lasting happiness become a reality for you. Jesus said He came to give us “a rich and satisfying life” (John 10:10). The apostle John wrote, “Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have God’s Son does not have life” (1 John 5:12).

I think a secret to tapping into this life of lasting happiness lies in Jesus’ Beatitudes. On a little plateau north of the Sea of Galilee, Jesus delivered the sermon of all sermons, the Sermon on the Mount, and opened with these famous declarations of blessing. Nine times in a row, from Matthew 5:3–11, Jesus said, “God blesses . . .” (NLT) or “Blessed are . . .” (NASB). The more I’ve studied them, the more I’ve thought, How different this is from anything the world can offer. Jesus redefined true happiness by showing what it looks like when a person participates in the kingdom-of-heaven kind of life right now on earth.

So what does blessed even mean? Lots of synonyms have been offered: “fortunate,” “contended,” “blissful,” “serene,” “unaffected by one’s surroundings,” “self-contained.” Think of the Beatitudes as inner attitudes that prevail over all external situations. It’s good to remember that they are pronouncements. Not probabilities. They’re celebrations. Not commands. “Be this” or “do that” don’t appear. But perhaps my favourite way of rendering these blessings is like this, “O, the lasting joy . . . .” When you read the Beatitudes, think, “O, the lasting joy . . . .”

Now let me add this. When these qualities are modelled in our lives, the world just cannot believe it. Many will be drawn to us like a magnet. The church, God’s people, doesn’t attract the interest of the world by being like the world but by being different from the world. When you and I are different from the world, suddenly the world’s curiosity is aroused, and many will be drawn to our Saviour.
At the same time, many will despise us, as you read in verse 11, because we are different and the world often lacks a place for what’s different. J. B. Phillips had the audacity to create beatitudes that follow the world’s system:

Happy are the “pushers”: for they get on in the world.
Happy are the hard-boiled: for they never let life hurt them.
Happy are they who complain: for they get their own way in the end.
Happy are the blasé: for they never worry over their sins.
Happy are the slave-drivers: for they get results.
Happy are the knowledgeable men [and women] of the world: for they know their way around.
Happy are the trouble-makers: for they make people take notice of them.¹

How different are the values of Jesus’ kingdom! And Jesus was the perfect model, yet they drove nails into His hands and feet. If we are rejected like Him, He then offers a command: “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matthew 5:12).
To end, let me offer one practical suggestion to make this checklist of lasting joy more a part of your life. Take one beatitude per day and reflect on it and pray through it for the entire day. Day one would be “poor in spirit.” You’ll think about your need for God the whole day. Day two would be “those who mourn.” You’ll think about your own carnality and the wrongs of this world and how desperate we are for God’s forgiveness, renewal, and comfort. Day three would be on “the gentle.” And so on.
Imagine how different you’ll be a year from now by focusing on one per day—different from those around you and different from who you are now. The lasting joy of God will be deeper in your life.