Monday Morning Manna: How to Have a Happy Day

Albert Einstein asked, “A table, a chair, a bowl of fruit and a violin, what else does a man need to be happy?” Apparently Einstein was not smart enough for Harvard University, who conducted a seventy-five year longitudinal study of the subject, and first concluded happiness is love. Then this same group suggested that happiness is good, explaining that happiness actually comes from three goods: (1) Doing good for others, (2) Doing things that one is good at, and (3) Doing good for self. This year’s Harvard survey suggests you can be happier if you: Choose to be happy with whatever you do, strengthen your closest relationships and take care of yourself physically, financially and emotionally. I guess it would have been too much to simply ask what the Bible had to say about happiness. The Psalmist said, “Happy is the man who has put his trust in the Lord” (Psalm 40:4, HCSB) and Solomon, considered by many as the wisest man of his day, added, “Whoever trusts in the Lord, happy is he” (Proverbs 16:20). May today, be a happy day, for you.

Dr. Dan Crawford, Senior Professor at Southwestern Baptist Seminary, is the WestCoast Baptist Association’s Spiritual Life & Leadership Mentor. Follow Dan on Twitter @DrDanRC and Facebook www.facebook.com/dan.crawford.