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- Oct 26, 2007
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"A newly married man must not be drafted into the army or be given any other official responsibilities. He must be free to spend one year at home, bringing happiness to the wife he has married. Deuteronomy 24:5
Bringing happiness is a priority for every Christian.
Married men are singled out in today’s key verse. The poor treatment of wives in the cultures surrounding God’s people at that time demanded drastic change. Still, the principle of bringing happiness belongs to all believers.
Bringing happiness requires the kind of humility Jesus was talking about when He said, “It is the one who is least among you all who is the greatest” (Luke 9:48 NIV). Most people are fine with getting up in the morning and thinking about what might make them happy. What’s difficult is getting up and having your first thought be about the happiness of your wife, a coworker, a family member, or neighbor. Humility helps with that.
Some of the loneliness people experience comes because they long for the kind of person who brings happiness, the kind of person who sings with the love and humility of the psalmist, “May they be happy” (Psalm 68:3 NIV)
Passover is time to spread happiness, because it celebrates God’s “passing over” and sparing the lives of those who obeyed Him in Egypt (Exodus 12).
Prayer: Lord, teach me to search for less happiness for myself than I give to others.
Bringing happiness is a priority for every Christian.
Married men are singled out in today’s key verse. The poor treatment of wives in the cultures surrounding God’s people at that time demanded drastic change. Still, the principle of bringing happiness belongs to all believers.
Bringing happiness requires the kind of humility Jesus was talking about when He said, “It is the one who is least among you all who is the greatest” (Luke 9:48 NIV). Most people are fine with getting up in the morning and thinking about what might make them happy. What’s difficult is getting up and having your first thought be about the happiness of your wife, a coworker, a family member, or neighbor. Humility helps with that.
Some of the loneliness people experience comes because they long for the kind of person who brings happiness, the kind of person who sings with the love and humility of the psalmist, “May they be happy” (Psalm 68:3 NIV)
Passover is time to spread happiness, because it celebrates God’s “passing over” and sparing the lives of those who obeyed Him in Egypt (Exodus 12).
Prayer: Lord, teach me to search for less happiness for myself than I give to others.
