A traveling friend of my wife and mine once asked me “What does it take to make anyone happy?” This question came when we had just finished a seven day cruise out of New York and had the opportunity of going into Canada. Before we boarded our ship we went to Niagara Falls and saw the wonderment of one of God’s creations and were awed by the beauty of the magnificent water falls on the Canadian and the United States border. At Niagara Falls and on the ship we were around many, many people. These people were from all parts of the world and most seem to be having a good time. There were smiles on the faces of most everyone and friendliness exuded from all around us.Our trip lasted over two weeks and we saw parts of God’s creation we had never seen before. As we were driving home from New York, my friend made the statement that with all of the modern technology we have today, such as television, cell phones, Ipads, computers, and all the modern amenities of communication, why is it that the people of the world are not content and happy with what we have? Over the past 50 plus years, modern technology has given us things to make our leisure time and jobs easier. We experience very little down time keeping up with the world and having everything at our finger tips. With all of these great inventions, why aren’t we happy and at peace with everyone?For me and all Christians that have Jesus in their hearts, read the Bible and follows the commands that He has set before us, we have a better understanding of contentment than what the world presents. The Apostle Paul tells us in 1Timothy 6:6-11 what it takes to be content; “But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. But you man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness.”Life is simple if we follow what God tells us to do. The world has led many astray because of money, greed, haughtiness, lust, and lack of appreciation for God’s creation. God has allowed man to invent many wonderful items to use in today’s modern world; however, we have gotten away from the true meaning of life. God wants us to be happy, but to do this we must know Him personally and thrive on His Word. Then and only then are we going to be happy and content and appreciate what He has given us. Everyone wants world peace and so do I; however, for us to have this all of the world must recognize the one true God. We have allowed Satan to get hold of most of the world’s population and establish many gods that cannot supply anything for them. Knowing Jesus as our personal Savior is the only way to have eternal life after we leave this world.Even though we have all the modern tools of today our society will never be happy and content unless we recognize the one and only creator of the earth and praise Him for all we have. He gave us a great big wonderful earth with beautiful mountains, seas, and plains. All we have to do is look around us and enjoy nature and understand that God provides for all of our needs.PrayerThank you Lord for the earth that you have given us to enjoy. I do pray that all of the world will one day recognize you as the one and only true God and accept You as their Savior. Amen.Suggested ReadingsSunday - Hebrews 13:5-6 Monday – Proverbs 30:7-9 Tuesday – Matthew 6:25-34 Wednesday – Ecclesiastes 6:7-12 Thursday – Philippians 4:17-32 Friday – Psalm 37:1-9 Saturday – 2 Corinthians 12:1-11
