- Morning Devotional
- June 27,
2005
"Letting Your Balloon Go"
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"How shall I describe this generation? These people are like a group of children playing a game in the public square. They complain to their friends, `We played wedding songs, and you weren't happy, so we played funeral songs, but you weren't sad.' For John the Baptist didn't drink wine and he often fasted, and you say, `He's demon possessed.' And I, the Son of Man, feast and drink, and you say, `He's a glutton and a drunkard, and a friend of the worst sort of sinners!' But wisdom is shown to be right by what results from it." (Matthew 11:16-19 NLT).
Are most people happy? Dennis Wholey, author of Are You Happy? reports that according to expert opinion, perhaps only 20 percent of Americans are happy. We live in one of the most affluent cultures ever known to man, yet we are not satisfied. We live in one of the healthiest ages in history. We have the ability to do more to prolong both the quantity and quality of life. Yet, we don’t seem to be satisfied.
At a conference in a Presbyterian church in Omaha, people were given helium-filled balloons and told to release them at some point in the service when they felt like expressing the joy in their hearts. I suppose that since they were Presbyterians, they weren’t free to say, “Hallelujah, Praise the Lord.” All through the service balloons ascended, but when it was over one-third of the balloons were unreleased!
It is more difficult than it seems sometimes. However, God’s desire is for us to be happy. The only question for most of us is “how?” I ran across the following suggestions for happier living. See if they might help get you started toward a happier life.
§ Give something away with no strings attached. It doesn’t need to be extravagant. It merely needs to be a gift. § Do a kindness and forget it. In fact, if you could do it anonymously, that’s even better. § Spend a few minutes with the aged; their experience is a priceless treasure. § Look intently into the face of a baby and marvel. § Laugh often. It’s life’s lubricant. Someone once said that it was the air conditioning of the soul. He wasn’t far off the mark! § Give thanks. A thousand times a day is not enough. § Pray as if it all depends on God. § Work as if it all depends on you. § Plan as though you’ll live forever because you will. § Live as though you’ll die tomorrow because you will on some tomorrow.
Stop holding on to your balloon! Let it go!
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