PODCAST TRANSCRIPT | EPISODE 290: What is the Answer? Part 1
LIFE TO THE FULL w/ Nancy Campbell
EPISODE 290
: What is the Answer? Part 1
“Do we do what makes us happy? Or do we do what is right?” What is the correct way? We know our three “inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” What did the founding fathers mean by “the pursuit of happiness”?
Announcer: Welcome to the podcast, Life to The Full, with Nancy Campbell, founder and publisher of Above Rubies
Nancy Campbell: Hello, ladies! Happy New Year! Wow! It’s quite amazing to be embarking again on a New Year. We don’t know what this year will unfold, but we know that God has it in His hands, that He has all the nations of the world in His hands. He is planning everything towards the ultimate, final end of bringing everything into subjection to Himself. We don’t know when and how God is going to do everything He has promised in His Word, but we trust Him.
I pray that God will be with you personally, and with and your husband, and all your children, and your home. As you travel this year, put your trust in Him. There may be difficult times, but no matter the good times or the difficult times, we keep looking up, looking up to Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith. Be encouraged!
I’d love to give you this Scripture as you go into this New Year. It’s talking about the land that the children of Israel were going into.
Deuteronomy 11:12: “A land which the LORD thy God careth for: the eyes of the LORD thy God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year. And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto My commandments which I command you this day, to love the LORD your God, and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul, That I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil. And I will send grass in thy fields for thy cattle, that thou mayest eat and be full.”
But my blessing to you is that God will give you the blessing of verse 12, that His eyes will be always upon your home, “from the beginning of the year, even unto the end of the year.” Amen.
Well, I have a subject I’m going to start today which I believe is a very important one to start the New Year. It is “WHAT IS THE RIGHT WAY?” Now, there is a way, there’s a right way, and there’s a wrong way. Many people today are counseled to do that which makes them happy, to follow the course that will bring them the most happiness. Like some people who are in a difficult marriage, they think, “Wow, if I can only get out of this marriage, I’ll be happy!”
But I believe there’s something greater than just choosing happiness. Yes, I know God does want us to be happy. But I believe that we don’t choose what makes us happy. We choose what is RIGHT. I believe that when we choose what is right, that it will result in happiness.
Because we have this tendency to lean on our own resources, our own understanding, how we feel, it’s amazing how we will base so many of our decisions on how we feel. Feelings are deceiving. Feelings come, feelings go, but they’re not always the truth. We must get back to the truth and find what is God’s way. His way is the right way! Amen?
Yes, He’s given us His Word, which is an accurate map to show us the right way. The world gives us many, many maps to follow, but they are usually faulty maps. They lead us in the wrong direction and down destructive paths. They’re by-paths. But God wants us on His path, on the right way.
I want to encourage you in these next couple of sessions, to make this your precedence: to choose and do that which is right, rather than that which makes you happy, because I know that you will know happiness when you choose that which is right. I hope you can say “amen” with me.
Proverbs 14:12: “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.”
Proverbs 3:5-6: “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths.”
And verse 7: “Be not wise in thy own eyes. Fear the LORD and depart from evil.”
To know the right way, we must trust in the Lord, and not lean on our own understanding. I’ve got so many Scriptures. It’s amazing how much God says about this in His Word. But before we even get onto that, I have to talk about something that I have a little problem with, actually.
That is, in the Preamble of the Declaration of Independence, that great statement that we all confess and say when we’re in some occasion, especially a political occasion: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights. That among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
Well, those are great words. But I’ve always had a little problem with the last phrase: “the pursuit of happiness.” I wondered, “Well, why, why is that so important, to pursue happiness?” I don’t feel it really lines up with the Bible as we read it. In fact, those words have already been used to get people on the wrong track. Gay people have demanded same-sex marriage because they say that will make them happy. They’re pursuing happiness.
What does that phrase really mean? I have read that in past times, the original intent of the pursuit of happiness was actually property, that the inalienable rights are life, liberty, and the freedom to own your own property. But, anyway, we really need to go back and have a look at what our Founding Fathers say, to see if we can get some sense of what they really meant by this pursuit of happiness.
We know that it was Thomas Jefferson who wrote that Preamble. Then there were five people who were committed to writing it. The others edited it. Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Roger Sherman, and Robert Livingstone. What was in their minds?
Thomas Jefferson, I guess you well know, was very influenced by the writings of John Locke.
John Locke was a British political philosopher who wrote about life, liberty, and property. Yes, he used those words. He lived nearly 400 years ago, from 1632 to 1704. But he had some wonderful understanding. Many of our Founding Fathers lived in his writings. It was his writings that helped to write the Constitution.
I’ll give you just a few wee quotes from Locke. “The pursuit of happiness engages the intellect, requiring careful discrimination of imaginary happiness from true and solid happiness.” We see he wasn’t just saying, “Oh, you just pursue whatever makes you happy!” No, it was a higher thing than that.
He writes again, “Reason, which is that law, teaches us, all mankind, that being all equal and independent, no one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty, or possessions.” There we have that thought, of possessions and property.
Another quote: “Private property is absolutely essential for liberty. Every man has a property in his own person.” I’m stopping there.
That’s very interesting, isn’t it? He’s here not only talking about owning a home and land, and having your own property, but having ownership of your own thoughts and beliefs. Even that is property, which is our liberty that we have and shall not be taken away from us.
He goes on to say, “This nobody has any right to, but himself. The labor of his body, the work of his hands, we may say are properly his. The great and chief end, therefore, of men united into commonwealth, and putting themselves under government is the preservation of their property.” That means their possessions, and also their convictions, their beliefs, their thoughts.
Are you seeing, ladies, although we have the pursuit of happiness, their original intent we see written in these quotes is that it did mean the preservation of property and liberty, to have property, and not only in estate, but also in our beliefs and convictions, and in our own person.
One or two more quotes. “Government can never have the power to take to themselves the whole or any part of the subject’s property without their consent.” He believed that government is morally obliged to serve the people, by protecting life, liberty, and property. He thought happiness meant gathering property and riches without interference of government.
To me, this is really a picture of the blessing and liberty that we read about in the Bible. In 1 Kings 4:25, it’s talking about the wonderful, peaceful, and glorious reign of King Solomon. His father David had been a man of war. He conquered all the enemy nations round about. So now, Solomon has this peaceful reign.
The Bible tells us that he is ruling right from the river Euphrates, which is right into the middle of Iraq, and down to Egypt. He had so much land that was originally given to Israel divinely by God. It says here, in 1 Kings 4:25: “And Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every man under his vine and under his fig tree, from Dan even to Beersheba, all the days of Solomon.” There is the picture: “every man under his own vine and his own fig tree,” the picture of each family having their home, having their vineyard, having their fig trees.
Colin and I have traveled quite frequently in the Middle East and Europe and stayed in many homes. In that part of the world, they have their home, and they have their vineyard. That’s part of what you have. There it’s talking about that great liberty in the Bible.
It is the opposite of what we are currently facing with the New World Order and the World Economic Forum who want to bring in the opposite of this glorious freedom that is in the heart of God. Their first mandate, as I’m sure you have read it, but if you haven’t, do you know what it is? “You will own nothing, and you will be happy.”
Well, that can’t be! Because we were brought to that place “in Christ” that we can learn to be “content with whatever state we are in” but that is not how God wants us to live. He wants us to have the blessing of home and our own place to live. But they want to own everything, and say, “OK, you will own nothing.” Many people don’t realize that this is their mandate. We need to be standing against that.
I was reading to you some of the quotes of John Locke, and Jefferson, who lived in much of his writings. Let’s hear from what Jefferson said. I’ve got a few quotes from some of the letters he wrote. “The order of nature is to be that individual happiness shall be inseparable from the practice of virtue.”
In another letter to someone, he writes, “Without virtue, happiness cannot be.”
Another letter which he wrote to his daughter, he said, “Health, learning, and virtue will ensure your happiness. They will give you a quiet conscience, private esteem, and public honor.” We see that Jefferson is taking that pursuit of happiness to that higher realm of virtue. It’s not only just to make yourself happy. That’s “me, me, me,” and that’s never a good way to live. When we try to live for ourselves, we will never ever be happy.
What did Jesus say in Mark 8:35? “He that will save his life will lose it, but he that will lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall find it.” That is a principle of the kingdom of God. We’re not looking after our own lives. When we try to do that, we lose. But when we’re prepared to lose our lives, to save others, to pour out our lives for others, that’s when we save our lives.
John Adams was one of the people who edited that Preamble. He writes: “The happiness of society is the end of government. The happiness of man, as well as his dignity, consists in virtue.” So, he also relegated it to a higher plane of virtue.
Then Benjamin Franklin, who was also one of the five, Benjamin Franklin, it says of him that actually his whole education was in much of Locke’s writings. He was self-educated. Did you know that? Benjamin Franklin, one of our great Founding Fathers, was self-educated. He didn’t go to school. Much of his self-education was reading the writings of Locke.
Benjamin Franklin’s IQ was 160. That’s pretty good. The average IQ is about 95 to 115. Perhaps we could say 100 is an average. He was well above average. Thomas Jefferson’s IQ was also 160. Do you know which president has the highest IQ? It was John Quincy Adams, the son of John Adams. He had an IQ of 175. That’s very, very high.
It’s interesting to go back and look at the IQs of the past presidents. What is an interesting thing, is to find that those who had the highest IQs were those who were many of our very first presidents, such as John Quincy, and then John Adams and so on. Most of them were self-educated. But they were well-educated, of course.
Let’s read some of Benjamin Franklin’s writings. He wrote in 1728: “I believe God is pleased and delights in the happiness of those He created. Since without virtue, man can have no happiness in this world, I firmly believe He delights to see me virtuous, because He is pleased when He sees me happy.”
In 1735, he wrote: “The science of virtue is of more work, and of more consequences to man’s happiness than all the rest of the sciences put together.” We are seeing that even Benjamin Franklin put the pursuit of happiness into that place of virtue.
Do you remember that virtue is the very first quality or character trait that God wants us to add to our faith? We read that in 2 Peter 1:5: “Giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue.” There are seven things the Bible tells us to add to our faith. But the very first one was “virtue.” The others were: “and add to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance,” which is self-control. “And to self-control (temperance) patience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity,” the seventh one.
I’m getting there, but I am just wanting to give you an understanding of the original intent of this phrase, “the pursuit of happiness.” We look at George Mason. He was the one who wrote the Preamble in the Virginian Declaration of Rights. He put them all together. He wrote it on June 12, 1776. He wrote about life, liberty, and property.
It was only a few days later, on the Fourth of July 1776, that Thomas Jefferson wrote the Preamble, “our inalienable rights,” and changed that word to “the pursuit of happiness.” I think he wanted it to be a broader thing than just property, so it was more than thinking of the state, and wealth, and home, and land, but even that which is of our own person, and even virtue and so on.
I’m sharing that with you because I had to really check this out myself, because I didn’t think they would be thinking shallowly, of “Oh, we do just what makes us happy!” Oh no, that was not their original intent at all. In the Bible, we are encouraged to enjoy happiness. Oh yes, the Bible talks about happiness, oh, so many things!
“Whoso trusteth in the Lord, happy is he.”
“As arrows in the hand of a mighty man, so are children of the youth. Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them.”
“Happy is the man that finds wisdom.”
“Happy is the man that fears the Lord.”
“Happy is the man that keeps God’s laws.” And on and on and on.
But we’re not told to pursue happiness. We’re told to pursue and seek God, seek His face, seek justice, seek His commandments, seek His precepts, seek good, seek first the kingdom of God, seek peace. These are the things we’re told to seek after in the Word of God.
With now giving you that foundation, let’s begin to look at the Scriptures about what is right, because remember, I believe we pursue and seek that which is right, or we could even say, we do that which is right, not necessarily that which makes us happy. Many times, the right way may not make you happy in the beginning, but it will in the end, because God’s ways are perfect. God’s ways bring blessing and happiness, because this is God’s delight. This is God’s plan for us. But we start with finding the right way.
The word “right” in the Hebrew in the Old Testament is yashar. It literally means, “straight, upright, correct, right, just, righteous.” This word is reflected in some of our modern expressions. Often, we say:
“the straight and narrow,”
“standing straight and tall,”
“straight from the shoulder,” that’s speaking from the heart.
“straight shooter,”
“go straight,”
and sometimes we’ll say to our children, “Come on! Straighten up!” because they’re getting out of hand. We’re using that word, “straight” because that’s part of the meaning of “right.”
I’ve got a few points here.
No. 1. WE MUST DO WHAT IS RIGHT IN GOD’S SIGHT, NOT OUR OWN
We find that in so many of the Scriptures, when God is speaking about doing that which is right, it’s doing it in the eyes of the Lord, or in the sight of God. It’s not doing that which is right in our own eyes. That’s pretty easy to do, isn’t it? But we’re to do what’s right in God’s eyes. To do that, we’ll have to go to His Word, won’t we? And find out.
Let’s start with the very first Scripture where this word is used. Remember, the first Scripture we have is the law of the first principle. It’s always important the first time God uses a word.
Exodus 15:26. This is a wonderful Scripture. It has such a wonderful promise at the end, but it begins with four conditions. So many of God’s words have conditions and then they have the promises. They have both.
We don’t just get, “Oh, yes, God will just give everything we want!” No, there are conditions first.
“If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God,” first condition,
“and wilt do that which is right in his sight,” second condition,
“and wilt give ear to his commandments,” third one,
“and keep all his statutes,” fourth condition,
“I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that healeth thee.”
Isn’t that a wonderful promise? Oh, I love it, but remember, it’s got the conditions before it. One of them is doing that which is right, “THAT WHICH IS RIGHT IN THE EYES OF THE LORD.” Amen.
Deuteronomy 6:18: “And thou shalt do that which is right and good in the sight of the LORD: that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest go in and possess the good land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, to cast out all thine enemies from before thee, as the LORD hath spoken.”
Deuteronomy 13:18: “Do that which is right in the eyes of the LORD thy God.” There are more Scriptures, but I think you’ve got the idea!
No. 2. EXAMPLES OF THOSE WHO DID THAT WHICH IS RIGHT IN THE SIGHT OF THE LORD
In 1 Kings 14:8, it talks about David: “who kept My commandments, and who followed Me with all his heart, to do that only which was right in Mine eyes.” Only! He only did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord. What a wonderful testimony to have over your life!
Then we read about Asa, 1 Kings 15:11: “And Asa did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD, as did David his father.”
Then we read about Jehoshaphat in 1 Kings 22:43: “And he walked in all the ways of Asa his father; he turned not aside from it, doing that which was right in the eyes of the LORD.”
Jehoash, 2 Kings 12:2: “Jehoash did that which was right in the sight of the LORD all his days wherein Jehoiada the priest instructed him.” We see there the power of godly mentoring from an older man. While he had the priests teaching him, and there by his side, guiding him, “he did that which was right.” We all need that guidance, don’t we? Everyone needs it from someone older and more experienced than them.
Maybe you have younger mothers who you can encourage and teach in the ways of the Lord, and show them the truth, the way God wants them to walk, the right way. Most young women today, even in the church, are not walking in the right ways of the Lord, for their home, for their families, even for their marriage because they’re living in this society where they’re doing everything according to how they feel and what society thinks. They don’t know the right way. The right way is God’s way.
There are so many other examples I could give you. It just goes on and on. In fact, when you are reading about the kings of Judah and the kings of Israel, every time you read about a new king, you’ll notice it says one of two things: “he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord,” or you’ll read, “he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord.” God is watching over all, but it’s all in God’s eyes and in His sight. They did either one or the other.
No. 3. GOD DOES THAT WHICH IS RIGHT
Genesis 18:25: “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” I love that Scripture. Don’t you? Many times, we think, “Oh, my. How could this happen? What is God doing here?” But I always like to say, “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” God knows what He is doing and what He does is always right.
Deuteronomy 32:4: “He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.” I’m often amazed at how people can get angry with God. They don’t like what is happening. It’s not suiting them. They’re going through a tough time, and they get upset with God. Who are we, as puny men and women, to get upset with God? Everything He does is right. Ultimately, as we trust Him, it will work out for our good.
Psalm 25:8: “Good and upright,” that’s the word “right,” yashar. “Good and right is the LORD.”
Psalm 92:15: “The Lord is right. He is my Rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.”
Isaiah 26:7, 8: “The way of the just is uprightness: Thou, most upright, dost weigh the path of the just.”
Nehemiah 9:33: “Thou art just in all that is brought upon us, for Thou hast done right, but we have done wickedly.”
I think our time has gone, and we will begin the next session on our next point. So, you’ll find out what it is then! Shall we pray?
“Dear Father, I pray for every family who is listening today. I pray for their marriages, I pray for all their children, I pray for Your blessing over their homes. I pray that You will watch over them from the beginning of this year until the end of the year. Lord God, I pray that You will lead them, and I pray above all that you will help them to learn to trust You and keep their eyes upon You, Lord God. In the Name of Jesus.
“And help us, Lord, to be families and individuals who do that which is right in Your sight. Lord God, teach us to be people who do that which is right, rather than that which just makes us happy! Lord, to do that which is right is virtue. It is a far greater status than just trying to make ourselves happy, which so often ends in destruction because it’s not the right way! Help us, Lord to be these people, biblical people according to Your Word. We ask it in the precious Name of Jesus. Amen.”
Blessings from Nancy Campbell
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Transcribed by Darlene Norris * This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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