By Dean Kelly

My three-year-old granddaughter will climb up in my lap. If I seem upset or angry or somehow out of sorts in her little mind, she will put her little hands on my cheeks and move her sweet little face close to mine, and say, “Be happy, PawPaw, be happy!” 

That has never failed to bring a smile to my face. When we approach the cross of Jesus and the redemption found through the blood shed there, it should make us the happiest people on earth!

Paul wrote, “Rejoice always” in 1 Thessalonians 5:16, and again “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!” (Philippians 4:4). Interestingly, Paul wrote the words to the Philippians from prison. On one occasion Paul and his co-worker Silas were imprisoned in the city of Philippi. They had been arrested and severely beaten and were cast into the depths of the prison bound in stocks and chains. 

The Bible records what they did after this awful treatment in this terrible place in Acts 16:25, “But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.” They were expressing joy and love for God in the worst of conditions.

You see, Paul knew that happiness and contentment do not come from our circumstances. Happiness comes from within. Paul said that he had learned to be content when he did not have enough and when he had more than he needed. He had learned whatever state he was in to be content (Philippians 4). That is what he is talking about in the famous passage, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13).

So, I can imagine the Savior reaching down and gently taking our face, and saying, “Be Happy Christian, Be Happy.”