“The Pursuit of Happyness” is closely based on a true story about a man named Christopher Gardner. He invests heavily in a business selling medical machines, but it doesn’t go that well. As he struggles to sell them, his wife leaves him, he loses his house, his bank account, and credit cards. He is forced to live out in the streets with his son. He is now desperate to find a steady job. This film resonates with many people’s hearts, not just because they can sympathise with Christopher Gardner, but because they can easily envisage themselves in his circumstances. Many people are one or two months income away from not being able to pay their bills. Some are already in the situation where they have lost a house, had their marriage break up, or lost their job. The pursuit of happiness is universal. We all want to be happy. But what makes Christianity different from other approaches, religions or philosophies, is that we can have more than just happiness, we can have joy. Happiness is a temporary feeling. It doesn’t last. Retail therapy makes us happy, but the effect soon wears off (sometimes before we get home from shopping!). Eating our favourite food can make us happy for a while, e.g. chocolate, sweets, cream buns, etc. But the happiness doesn’t last long, so we eat more and more to try to keep up the happiness… Some people want money to be rich, in the hope that that will make them happy – sometimes the promise of riches, or the things that riches can buy, can make people happy. But money doesn’t satisfy – When John D. Rockefeller was asked how much money was enough, he replied: “A little bit more.” He said “It is wrong to assume that men of immense wealth are always happy.” Happiness is a temporary feeling. It doesn’t last. C.S. Lewis found that happiness or pleasure was different from joy In his autobiographical search for joy in his book “Surprised by Joy”, C.S. Lewis noted “I sometimes wonder whether all pleasures are not substitutes for Joy.” He searched for joy, and in the end was surprised with what he found. In his search for joy, he came to faith in Christ instead. As writer David M. Howard, Jr. commented on Lewis’ search for joy: [Lewis] had been focusing on a feeling, an experience, a process that had no Object. What he had been focusing on was “not the wave but the wave’s imprint on the sand.” He realized that he had made “Joy” itself into an idol. He‘d known that “Joy” was a desire, but he’d never realized that “a desire is turned not to itself but to its object.” Lewis discovered that his quest for “Joy”—and even his fleeting experiences of it over the years—was not, in the end, what he was really after. Lewis concludes on the last page of his book; “But what, in conclusion, of Joy? for that, after all, is what the story has mainly been about. To tell you the truth, the subject has lost nearly all interest for me since I became a Christian.” C.S. Lewis was surprised by joy, that he did not find joy when he sought it, but he did find joy when he sought God instead. Joy is a fruit of the Spirit In the Bible, lasting and deep joy is one of the blessings of trusting in Jesus and having the Holy Spirit come into our lives and change us. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy… (Galatians 5:22). It is the result of knowing God personally, and living closely to him, in obedience and faith. Joy is never as free and complete as when we are expressing it. Rejoicing is the expression of joy. Praise is an essential part of Christian worship, as it allows us to express our joy to God. Singing God’s praises is a blessed experience, and we not only send our praises to God, but we experience the fullness of joy as we do so. Yet, we can turn singing into an idol, seeking the fulfilment of joy that we get though praising God, instead of focusing on God himself. We can do that through many other things too, focusing on the gift rather than the giver. But praise God that he alone gives us lasting joy, as we look forward to the fulfilment of salvation in eternity with him. We can therefore have joy despite our circumstances. we can by joyful even when we are sad. Joy is therefore much better than happiness. It is no wonder that the old summary of the main purpose in life is “to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.”