A Christian Isn't Superficial or Frivolous; He Is Serious about Being Happy

"None of that superficial happiness and joy! No, no: it is a solemn joy, it is a holy joy, it is a serious happiness; so that, though he is grave and sober-minded and serious, he is never cold and prohibitive. Indeed, he is like our Lord himself, groaning, weeping, and yet, 'for the joy that was set before him' enduring the cross, despising the shame."

-D. Martin Lloyd-Jones, Studies on the Sermon on the Mount

The great problem of our entertainment obsessed and consumerist society is not a too high valuation of happiness, it's a radical belittling of joy. Too much cheap humor puts us to sleep—it medicates us against true happiness. We have become stunted in our emotions, children in all the wrong ways, just like the dwarfed souls of A Brave New World. We shun sorrow and mourning, and do not ascend to the heights of joy.

Oh believer, we have much better things to live for than large fishing boats, happy retirements, fast cars, or great sex. Lord, help us to live for you, not because we despise laughter and joy, but because we aim to enter the presence of a holy and jovial God.