Called to Happiness
“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” – Matthew 5:11,12 Have you ever had a Christian friend or maybe even a pastor tell you that Jesus did not promise His followers a happy life? If so, I’m here to dispel that claim and assure you that the Lord does indeed want you to be full of happiness and joy — but there’s a catch! The Sermon on the Mount is basically Jesus’ thesis on how to be happy. The Greek word used in Matthew 5 for “blessed” is macarius, and it’s translated: happy, fortunate, well-off, and supremely blessed. The caveat, however, is that this supreme blessing comes at a cost. Far from
