How much of the time in this life is spent in the pursuit of happiness? Everyone has a sense of what will make them happy and they devote a great deal of time and effort in attempting to gain it. Christians are no less consumed with this effort than anyone else. The sad truth is for the Christian the only real source of joy and happiness comes from the Word of God. And although most Christians would give assent to that truth, in reality it is denied by the practices they engage in and the purpose for which they engage in them.
Arthur Pink wrote an article back in 1948 titled Enjoying God’s Best in that article he addressed the issue of the believer’s happiness this side of heaven. He said, “God has established an inseparable connection between holiness--and happiness; between our pleasing of Him--and our enjoyment of His richest blessing; that since we are always the losers by sinning--so we are always the gainers by walking in the paths of righteousness; and that there will be an exact ratio between the measure in which we walk therein--and our enjoyment of "the peaceable fruit of righteousness" (Hebrews 12:11).” God intends for His children to know joy in this life as well as the next. That joy we experience now or in Pink’s words our “temporal felicity” is ours in whatever measure we are committed to keep the Word of God. How much happier we would be as Christians if we were committed to this reality.