"While he was speaking thus, a woman in the crowd called out, 'Happy the womb that carried you and the breasts that suckled you!" He rejoined, "No, happy are those who hear the word of God and keep it'" (Luke, 11: 27-28).
It is our usual tendency to try to draw out happiness from the material things of this world and from our relationships in society. There is nothing wrong in this until we become too attached and get blindly addicted to our surroundings and situations. What is the way to get a sense of balance and equipoise to deal with our daily life and be happy at the same time? Here is the relevance of the declaration of Jesus that only those who seek out the word of God and keep it can really be happy. This is true even in the ideal situation one may be in with regard to this world, which is necessarily changing and is in transition.
All of us born and brought up in different countries, cultures, religions, social situations etc. should seek out and try to truly understand the word of God as a first step to abiding happiness. Acting upon the word of God as understood by us is the acid test for real happiness. Jesus gives two examples of how people in various circumstances rightly understood the word of God and acted upon it. The queen of the south came all the way from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon and the people of Nineveh repented at the preaching of Jonah (Luke, 11:31-32). This is in stark contrast to the people at the time of Jesus who go on asking for signs in spite of having the word of God with them. Jesus publicly denounced this attitude calling them a wicked generation (Luke, 11:29).
Just as the eye is the lamp of our body, the word of God is the lamp of our soul. The function of the lamp is to illumine so that everything is seen in the light from where darkness flees and disappears. This is not the case with those whose understanding is clogged and who fanatically follow meaningless rituals far removed from the word of God. At the time of Jesus, it was exemplified by the Jewish pharisees and scribes who cleansed the outside of the cup and plate while they themselves were infested with greed and wickedness inside. How far one could be removed from the spirit of the word of God may be seen from further examples given by Jesus in the Gospels (Luke, 11:42-54). Should anyone expect to be really happy in this situation?
How shall we benefit from the word of God by a correct understanding followed by its faithful execution? Our fundamental focus should be the readiness to be taught by God Himself even as we read or listen to the word of God. The background of a believing community is presupposed in this type of direct teaching by God. God does this by directly inscribing the right meaning on to our heart and illumining our mind on the basis of which we have to act. As a result of this twofold action by God , a clear conscience emerges in us. The two focal points, therefore, are heart and mind resulting in an informed conscience. By 'heart' is meant the center of our personality and not the physical organ that pumps blood in our body. To keep the center of our personality ready for receiving the word of God, we have to cleanse ourselves thoroughly. It is our internal cleansing from all negative dispositions we have accumulated through life's journey (See our post on 'From Negativity to Positivity'). Our mind consisting of Intellect and Will are illumined and strengthened by divine action. As a result of this cleansing, illumination and strengthening, a pure conscience emerges in us guiding us to choose our way in life in accordance with the word of God.
What about happiness in this process? Happiness is the result of our adherence to the word of God as we would be brimming with love, joy and peace. The Kingdom of God is nothing else but the company of people full of godly love, joy and peace under the sovereignty of God. The difference between purely worldly love, joy and peace and the divine love, joy and peace is that between appearance and reality. The former appears to make us happy and yet it does not have substance in it as it melts away like a mirage in a desert. A thirsty person in the desert wants to drink water that is not available in the mirage in spite of appearances to the contrary. In the same way, real happiness consisting of divine love, joy and peace cannot be had without the assistance of the Word of God. A purely extrovert person cannot have real happiness for which self-reflection aided by the Word of God capturing our real nature is required!
It is our usual tendency to try to draw out happiness from the material things of this world and from our relationships in society. There is nothing wrong in this until we become too attached and get blindly addicted to our surroundings and situations. What is the way to get a sense of balance and equipoise to deal with our daily life and be happy at the same time? Here is the relevance of the declaration of Jesus that only those who seek out the word of God and keep it can really be happy. This is true even in the ideal situation one may be in with regard to this world, which is necessarily changing and is in transition.
All of us born and brought up in different countries, cultures, religions, social situations etc. should seek out and try to truly understand the word of God as a first step to abiding happiness. Acting upon the word of God as understood by us is the acid test for real happiness. Jesus gives two examples of how people in various circumstances rightly understood the word of God and acted upon it. The queen of the south came all the way from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon and the people of Nineveh repented at the preaching of Jonah (Luke, 11:31-32). This is in stark contrast to the people at the time of Jesus who go on asking for signs in spite of having the word of God with them. Jesus publicly denounced this attitude calling them a wicked generation (Luke, 11:29).
Just as the eye is the lamp of our body, the word of God is the lamp of our soul. The function of the lamp is to illumine so that everything is seen in the light from where darkness flees and disappears. This is not the case with those whose understanding is clogged and who fanatically follow meaningless rituals far removed from the word of God. At the time of Jesus, it was exemplified by the Jewish pharisees and scribes who cleansed the outside of the cup and plate while they themselves were infested with greed and wickedness inside. How far one could be removed from the spirit of the word of God may be seen from further examples given by Jesus in the Gospels (Luke, 11:42-54). Should anyone expect to be really happy in this situation?
How shall we benefit from the word of God by a correct understanding followed by its faithful execution? Our fundamental focus should be the readiness to be taught by God Himself even as we read or listen to the word of God. The background of a believing community is presupposed in this type of direct teaching by God. God does this by directly inscribing the right meaning on to our heart and illumining our mind on the basis of which we have to act. As a result of this twofold action by God , a clear conscience emerges in us. The two focal points, therefore, are heart and mind resulting in an informed conscience. By 'heart' is meant the center of our personality and not the physical organ that pumps blood in our body. To keep the center of our personality ready for receiving the word of God, we have to cleanse ourselves thoroughly. It is our internal cleansing from all negative dispositions we have accumulated through life's journey (See our post on 'From Negativity to Positivity'). Our mind consisting of Intellect and Will are illumined and strengthened by divine action. As a result of this cleansing, illumination and strengthening, a pure conscience emerges in us guiding us to choose our way in life in accordance with the word of God.
What about happiness in this process? Happiness is the result of our adherence to the word of God as we would be brimming with love, joy and peace. The Kingdom of God is nothing else but the company of people full of godly love, joy and peace under the sovereignty of God. The difference between purely worldly love, joy and peace and the divine love, joy and peace is that between appearance and reality. The former appears to make us happy and yet it does not have substance in it as it melts away like a mirage in a desert. A thirsty person in the desert wants to drink water that is not available in the mirage in spite of appearances to the contrary. In the same way, real happiness consisting of divine love, joy and peace cannot be had without the assistance of the Word of God. A purely extrovert person cannot have real happiness for which self-reflection aided by the Word of God capturing our real nature is required!
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