Make Me Happy

Over the last few years, I've noticed many movies and TV shows with a loosely religious bent have a "God wants me to be happy" theme.

I'd shake my head and say, "No, that's not it at all. It's not about happiness."

But I've come to realize over that last couple of months that I have succumbed to the "God wants me to be happy" thinking. Maybe you have, too. Maybe not.

It wasn't a conscious thought. It was something much more subtle, almost clandestine. And it was combined with a certain entitlement mentality I had. "I am entitled to make X dollars, God, because I graduated from a certain school. I work hard. I've earned it. I deserve it. Why should weak economic times trickle down to me? It isn't fair. Do something about it." Again, this wasn't a conscious thought, but it was what I felt deep down in my heart.

The Holy Spirit has convicted me of this sin. The Christian walk isn't about making me happy. I am owed nothing by the Almighty God and Creator of this Universe. Salvation is not a negotiation. "God, give me eternal life in Heaven, and I'll serve you... oh, and keep me happy." This isn't the way it works.

I am to serve Him because He is the Almighty Creator, and so, in the words of the Moravian Missionaries, "the Lamb that was slain may receive the reward of His suffering."