Rejoice And Be Happy

 

Over the last few days I have noticed that a lot of people are just hell bent to be unhappy.

Articles and news stories filled with people going out of their way to disparage Thanksgiving.

Essentially trying to tell all of us that we should be unhappy and ungrateful for the blessings that we have in this nation, focusing rather on the sins of the past, in a time and era where none of us were alive.

They are to be pitied for not recognizing what they have .

With Thanksgiving now past and the official start of Hanukkah tonight ,and the Christmas season in full swing, I'd like to give some of those unhappy campers a piece of friendly advice. Only you can decide to be happy. I can't do it for you and neither can anyone else. If you are determined to be miserable you will succeed.

For me and my family this is our favorite time of the year, from fall starting, to ending in the New Year, we try to be happy and grateful for what we have. I will grant you that this past year has been a hard one, my family and I have had to make some hard choices, but in the long run we are still blessed.

One very common theme to be found in the Bible is the idea of rejoicing.

Deut. 14:26 speaking of the Israelite people going to celebrate their festivals “….And you shall feast there in the presence of the Lord your God and REJOICE with your household.” This command is repeated over and over sometimes replacing rejoice with happy. See chapter 12:7,12,18 and chapter 16:13-15.

There are many more verses like these but I think you get the point.

God told the people to rejoice and be happy before they even had their own nation! He knew their collective flaws and tendencies and what they would do before hand and yet he commanded them to be happy!

I would humbly submit to you that despite everything that has come before and no matter what may come in the days ahead we should, at the very least, try to let the light of happiness shine through.

Happiness and rejoicing are contagious and that is one contagion I would love to see spread.

Happy Hanukkah and Merry Christmas to all of you.