All people in the world are in the pursuit of happiness. But they are all pursuing it in the wrong way. They think that happiness can be found in illicit sexual pleasure, or in plenty of money, or in fame and honour and position and power etc. There is no doubt, a certain amount of sensual excitement in all of these. But the happiness doesn't last.

God also wants us to be happy. But He says, "Happy are those whose hearts are pure" ( Matt.5:8 - Living). It is only by being holy that we can be really happy. As a Christian, you are called to demonstrate to the world around you that you are supremely happy, because you are holy. And you must show others that you don't need any of the sinful things that God has forbidden, to make you happy.

We don't find our happiness even through the pursuit of legitimate things - like marriage or a job. We can have these, but we can't become happy through them. We can be happy only in the Lord. Only then can we be effective witnesses for the truth of the gospel.

Jesus came to save us not only from sin but also from this world system. Satan is the ruler of this world. He is behind the fashions, the entertainment, the educational system and many, many other apparently neutral things that we see in this world. For example, if we spend all our spare time listening to good Christian music, that could be Satan's way of preventing us from being still enough at times, to listen to the voice of God. The good then becomes the enemy of the best!

The Lord does not take us out of this world. He prayed to the Father in John 17:15 not to take His disciples out of the world, but to keep them from evil. It is only in the world that we can be trained to be holy. A ship is tested for its water-tightness in the midst of the sea, and not in a dry-dock!

Jesus said that in the days of Noah and Lot, people were taken up with eating, drinking, buying, selling, building, planting, marrying and giving in marriage (Luke.17:26-28) - all legitimate activities. We can be so taken up with these "cares of the world" that we have no time for God. That is the danger in the last days. And we are living in those days now. When we prosper financially, and start living lavishly, we can easily drift away from God. The Bible says, "Godliness with frugality is a means of real spiritual profit" (1 Tim.6:6- paraphrase).

The day of salvation is now. We need to repent of our preoccupation with things other than God Himself. When our hearts are impure, we cannot be really happy. Secret sins and wrong attitudes towards others have a way of making us long-faced, like Cain, whom God asked, "Why is your face fallen?" (Gen.4:6). God warned Cain about the danger that was facing him. Sin was crouching at the door of his heart waiting to swallow him up and God told him to master it.

Sin is very, very close to us at all times. Blessed are those who realize this at all times - for they will be alert and vigilant in the hour of temptation. The one who realizes the weakness of his flesh and constantly cries out to God for help will not fall.