Too often in today’s culture happiness is associated with some kind of euphoric feeling, pleasure, or ego boost. Ecclesiastes seems to give the most complete treatment of happiness. Consider these verses:

• Ecclesiastes 2:26

“To the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God.”

• Ecclesiastes 3:12-13

“I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. 13 That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil—this is the gift of God.”

• Ecclesiastes 5:18-20

“Then I realized that it is good and proper for a man to eat and drink, and to find satisfaction in his toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given him—for this is his lot. 19 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. 20 He seldom reflects on the days of his life, because God keeps him occupied with gladness of heart.”

• Ecclesiastes 7:14

“When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider: God has made the one as well as the other.”

• Ecclesiastes 11:9

“Be happy, young man, while you are young, and let your heart give you joy in the days of your youth. Follow the ways of your heart and whatever your eyes see, but know that for all these things God will bring you to judgment.”

There are several things to note regarding Solomon’s treatment of happiness. First, when happiness is positive, it seems to be a gift of God. It is not something we find or achieve as much as it is something given to us by God, a gift that we should appreciate, but not one we should take for granted. Second, true happiness seems to be the result of pleasing God and not ourselves. Storing up wealth does not lead to happiness (this from a man who had Bill Gates kind of wealth). Third, there will be happy times in life as well as times that are not so happy. Both the happy and the unhappy times come from God. Fourth, we will be judged for what we do to make ourselves happy.

In a world where immediate gratification is championed as the ultimate purpose in life we must strive to help students see that a deeper purpose in life, namely a life committed to Jesus, is the only thing that can bring lasting and true happiness. Again consider the words of Solomon:

Something to Think About:

• What happens when you promise that Jesus will make students happy, and hard times come?
• If you use “fun” to attract students, how will you keep them? (I’m not suggesting we don’t use fun, just that we need to think about this)
• When you share the gospel, do you emphasis a life of happiness or purpose?
• As you teach the word of God, how do you help students develop a deeper understanding of what it means to be happy and how do you help them understand that happiness comes from God, not things or experiences?

All quotes from the Bible were taken from the NIV