Commentary: Health, wealth, and happiness

Ralph Fudge

What too many people fail to actually realize is that everything they have is temporary.”

Years ago, I saw a most interesting ashtray in a local attorney’s waiting room. It was large and had inscribed on it, “Health, Wealth, Happiness, and the Time to Enjoy It.” It made the wonderful point that many people stay too busy in life to enjoy the wonderful blessings God has provided them.

Too many people never feel they have accumulated enough money and things. Someone once asked Andrew Carnegie, perhaps the richest man in the country, “Mr. Carnegie, just how much income is enough?” His answer was, “Just a little bit more.”

What too many people fail to actually realize is that everything they have is temporary. The adage, “You can’t take it with you” is certainly true. Not only are things temporary, all people are temporary. The Bible declares that, “And as it is appointed unto men to die once, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). And Jesus asked, “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?” (Mark 8:36). Far too many souls never heed God’s Word or even believe that He exists. Instead, they selfishly try to grab everything they can, regardless of who it may hurt.

Health is probably the greatest blessing one can experience on earth. For without health, time is either most unpleasant or often miserable. Personally, I thank God every morning for the day and the many, almost innumerable, blessings He has so generously bestowed upon my family and me.

When I was much younger and much more ignorant, I made the comment to an elderly and much wiser friend that I had always been so lucky. He immediately set me straight by informing me that I had not been lucky but blessed. After that, I quit referring to luck. In fact, today I no longer believe in luck, but in God’s sovereignty instead. Some people have enough belief in luck to do strange things. I have known coaches who would wear out caps or jackets simply because they truly believed that they would bring them good luck to win games. But I say, “Trust God and forget about luck because God is sovereign.” May we always recall Paul’s statement that all things work for good for those who love God. (Romans 8:28).

For most people, happiness is elusive at best. This is because happiness for so many people depends on circumstances. When things go their way, they are happy. When things turn adverse, they quickly lose all joyful feelings. Some become unhappy enough to commit or attempt suicide. I love old hymns. One of my favorites is “When We Walk with the Lord.” The chorus states, “Trust and obey, for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.” The old hymns preach their own sermons.

Again, the problem with most folks is a lack of trust and even disbelief in Jesus, God’s Christ. Without Him, all happiness is elusive and temporary at best. Without Christ, no one has reason to be optimistic or confident in life after death. Without trusting one’s soul to Christ, he dies, and his soul immediately proceeds to everlasting punishment. This is a warning every preacher should constantly proclaim.

But with faith in Christ, we are assured of not only the everlasting happiness of heaven, but also the joy of salvation every day we spend on earth. I am not saying that Christians are immune from occasional unhappiness, distress, and even misery, but we still always have the joy of our salvation in knowing where our souls will proceed the moment of death. We have the joy of knowing that we will be in heaven with all our family and friends who trusted their souls to Christ before they died.

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Ralph Fudge is the pastor of Big Ochlocknee Baptist Church in Coolidge, Ga., and has a Master’s degree in theology from Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.