You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.”
Hebrews 1:9

‘Because You’ve loved righteousness and hated iniquity,’ said the Father to the Son, ‘You are anointed with the oil of gladness above all others.’

Did you know that gladness is directly proportional to holiness? Happiness and holiness go hand in hand. That is why crowds flocked around Jesus. Wasn’t He the Man of sorrows (Isaiah 53:3)? Certainly. But there was also a gladness and joy about Him unlike that of any other human being in history. Jesus was immensely attractive to the crowds because holiness and happiness are directly proportional.

Some folks don’t see this until they’re forty or fifty or sixty years old. And some never see it at all. They think holiness is drudgery. They think if they’re righteous, they won’t be happy, that they’ll just have to endure the pain of Christianity. But nothing is further from the truth.

To the extent you choose to be holy is the extent to which you will be happy. Conversely, to the extent you compromise holiness is the extent to which you diminish happiness. It’s just that simple.

 

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This Daily Devotional is an excerpt from the book “A Days Journey” by Pastor Jon Courson.  Used with permission from joncourson.com