These Unalienable Rights

During those formative moments just prior to the birth of our country, some devoted men wrote a declaration. We know that document as The Declaration of Independence. Within the first few lines it states: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Sometime soon after the signing and adoption of this document, a rough man questioned Benjamin Franklin as he gave a speech defending both the declaration and the constitution. The man boldly challenged Franklin: “Aw, them words don’t mean nothin’ a-tall! Where’s all that happiness you say it guarantees us?” Franklin smiled benevolently at the man, and quickly replied, “My friend, the Constitution only guarantees the American people the right to pursue happiness. You have to catch it yourself!” Perhaps there is some of that thought in the Apostle Paul’s admonition to the Philippians: Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:8-14, ESV). The real question for us this morning is in how we ought to go about pursuing it! Nathaniel Hawthorne said, “Happiness is like a butterfly: the more you chase it, the more it will elude you. But if you turn your attention to other things, it comes and softly sits on your shoulder.” This is the essence of what Paul meant when he said, “forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead.” One of the major reasons so many of us remain hurried, frightened, and competitive, and continue to live life as it were one giant emergency, is our fear that if we were to become more peaceful and loving, we would suddenly stop achieving. We fear that we would become apathetic and lazy. Actually, the opposite is true. Fearful, frantic thinking takes an enormous amount of energy and drains the creativity and motivation from our lives. When you are fearful and frantic, you literally immobilize yourself from you greatest potential, not to mention joy. Any success you may have is in spite of your fear, not because of it. Today, commit yourself to resting in the love of God, and, forgetting what lies in the past, ignoring what might be in the future, rest in what is today! Experience the “mighty power that raised Christ from the dead!” Adopt this principle for your life: Never let past failures or future fears rob you of present joy!