Remember the difference between Nighttime Guy and Daytime Guy?
Nighttime Guy is the one who likes to stay up late, party and have a good time. At 2am, Nighttime Guy will see the clock and say, "No problem! You've got plenty of time to sleep, so keep the party going."
But Daytime Guy is the guy the alarm clock wakes up the next morning at 7am after just three hours of sleep. Daytime Guy sets his alarm because he's got to shower, shave, fix breakfast, drive and be ready at work by 9am.
The one thing both guys have in common is that they both live inside the same guy.
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We live in a culture that practically screams at us, "You have a RIGHT to be Happy!" And because we seldom hear anything convincing to the contrary, lots of people embrace that right ... and therefore feel entitled to do whatever it takes to make themselves happy.
Thing is, "Happiness" is temporary and refers to a current state of mind: a person can be blissfully happy at 10am but then feel perfectly
miserable by noon ... while nothing of lasting or permanent consequence has happened in-between. He or she is still exactly the same person; the only difference is that they just don't feel "Happy" any more.
Christians who're focused on spending their lives in pursuit of Happiness are like Nighttime Guy. Because they feel entitled to a lifetime of happiness, they empower themselves to bypass the Commandments, ignore Scripture and indulge in sin if that's what they think it'll take to finally reach "Happiness" ... but somehow Happiness always remains one more elusive step away.
The believer who wakes up and arrives at work to surrender, worship and obey is like Daytime Guy. His days are spent focused on work ... and his happiness is found in the joy of serving and living for the resurrected Christ.
