If you're happy and you know it clap your hands... if you're happy and you know it stomp your feet... If you're happy and you know it, then your face will surely show it, if you're happy and you know it say, "Amen!"

Old Bible school song

Every year the small church that I preached at has Vacation Bible School. The main attraction, the Gospel Chariot, is a cut-down cotton trailer that is pulled through town by an old tractor. While we typically have a half a dozen or so grade-school kids in our regular Bible classes, the Vacation Bible School with it's Gospel Chariot multiplies our classes by ten-fold or more. It is not at all unusual to see the Gospel Chariot arrive back at the church building with 60 to 70 plus grade school kids, and we always sing the "If You're Happy and You Know it" song, complete with hand-clapping, foot stomping on the metal chariot floor, and high decibel "amening" to bring the song to it's roaring conclusion.

Now, I don't want you to get me wrong. Our Bible classes are headed by dedicated Bible teachers who make sure that the kids go home with something far more than the memories of an out of tune preacher, but we do have a good time. I like seeing these kids with unrestrained smiles lighting up faces that are clearly filled with a pure and unbridled joy. 

Personally, I think we could use more joy in this world.

Have you ever noticed how the joy that once came so easily seems to fade as we grow older? Maybe it's because we find that life is harder as the years go by and, while for some that may be true, I think that it is something far deeper than just adding a few years. I believe we lose our joy because we lose sight of the source of our blessings. And, once we have taken our eyes off of God, we tend to slip into a kind of desperate pattern of life. That pattern often consists of reluctantly getting out of bed for a job we really don't like. We slog through our days, wondering if we will ever get off of work, and then we go home to an unhappy and unfulfilling pattern that usually involves useless electronic consumption, and well as the overindulgence of food and drink. Then we go to bed and get up far too early to do the same thing over, and over, and over. Add a spouse and kids to the mix and we sometimes become overwhelmed with the responsibility and challenges that come along with a family.

Yuck! If this describes you more often that you would like to admit, then maybe you could consider this admonition from a man who experienced similar problems:

Then I realized that it is good and proper for a man to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his toilsome labor under the sun, during the few days of life God has given him - for this is his lot. Moreover, when God gives any man wealth and possessions, and enables him to enjoy them,

to accept his lot and be happy in his work -

this is a gift of God. He seldom reflects on the days of his life, because God keeps him occupied with the gladness of his heart.

Ecclesiastes 5:18-20, NIV (1978)

Now that is living. But what is the difference between the man who is unsatisfied with his mundane existence and the one who finds his life fulfilled and full of excitement? It is that one man doesn't realize who he is, nor what he is here for, nor from whence his blessings flow. The other man... does. And, he is happy!

Here is an undeniable truth that is worthy of our consideration: God loves us, and has put us here, in part, to see if we love Him enough to serve Him with all of our heart and soul and mind and strength. Those who do are generally going to be happy, while those who have no desire to serve will generally become self-centered and dissatisfied with the state of their life. Which man are you? If it's the happy one, why not say a hearty "Amen!", sprinkled generously with a thank you or two to the One who gives your life meaning and joy!

It's okay to be happy, just as it is okay to not always be caught up in the problems of life. It is true that problems have to be honestly addressed, but it is also true that God has given us the great gift of happiness, if we will only be smart enough to accept it. After all, if you're happy and you know it...