TRUE HAPPINESS by W. H. B. Miller

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Jun 25, 1894

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 20, No. 33.

TRUE HAPPINESS.

By W. H. B. Miller

BY W. H. B. MILLER.

A too common impression prevails among those who have not yielded to the claims of the gospel, that to become a Christian means to forfeit all enjoyment and to renounce all right to every earthly happiness. Is it rational to suppose that the Creator would, after having implanted these desires in our nature, declare all means to their attainment to be unlawful? God does not act thus. Mankind has a natural longing for an eternal existence, and the means to attain the desired consummation has been placed within the reach of all. The craving for rest is gratified by sleep, and the natural desire for food is met by the Creator's bountiful provision, both pleasant and healthful. Yet the enemy of Christ would have men believe that the service of God is stern and forbidding, and that his servants are controlled by rigid, unnecessary laws, requiring them to smother all natural desires, avoiding even the appearance of pleasure or happiness. Can it be possible that the lives of Christians ever present such a testimony to the world?

Wherever this impression prevails, it is a deception, as every true Christian can joyfully testify. The Creator is the author of all pleasure, and he loves to see his servants happy; but Satan takes these blessings, and by their excess or perversion turns them into curses. God is the most reasonable master we can serve. His kindness, compassion, and mercy are infinite, and his love no man can understand. Although we are his creation, he does not compel obedience, but gently pleads with us, offering the most gracious and tender invitations to come out of bondage into the freedom of his service. "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; . . . for my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

Are you afraid, dear unsaved friends, that the pure eye of the Creator will detect so much sin in you that he will refuse your service? All might well fear such a reception; but listen: "Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord; though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow." Perhaps you fear that you will receive stern rebuke should you stumble often: "Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him. For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust." Can service under such a Master be hard? True, there will be conflicts; but Christ is a Captain who never loses a battle; thus victory is assured while under his banner.

"But I must give up all my pleasures." Drop the shadows and God will give you the rich substance. His storehouse is full of precious blessings, which he is patiently waiting for you to accept. "O taste and see that the Lord is good." Come and enjoy the real pleasures of the Christian; then you will realize how false have been the attractions offered by Satan.

Come, without money and without price, and find that "peace of God which passeth all understanding," that happiness that no man can take from you, that joy which God alone can give. Here is to be found the true realization of all our God-given desires. Satan has invented many clever counterfeits, but God offers the pure, precious realities, the "gold tried by fire," the "pearl of great price." "God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." "Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely."