Low Road to Happiness

“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.”—Luke 6:20

At the age of 23, George Beverly Shea had a difficult decision to make.  He could accept a job in a secular singing position in New York City with a great salary and wide respect, or he could continue singing in churches and for Christian radio programs. While sitting at the family piano preparing a special hymn for the Sunday service, he found placed there by his mother a poem by Mrs. Rhea F. Miller.  He immediately composed the music for the poem and sang it that same morning in his father’s church service.  He also used those words to direct his life and has shared his song, I’d Rather Have Jesus, all over the world.

The familiar lyrics follow, verse 1: “I’d rather have Jesus than silver or gold; I’d rather be His than have riches untold; I’d rather have Jesus than houses or land; I’d rather be led by His nail-pierced hand.”  The Chorus: “Than to be the king of a vast domain or be held in sin’s dread sway! I’d rather have Jesus than anything this world affords today.”

In Luke’s Sermon on the Plain, Jesus said to His disciples, “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.” We may not completely understand the many ways the poor are blessed, but the poor may be assured that even though they lack many of this world’s goods, they are abundantly blessed by God’s love in Jesus Christ. Jesus preached wherever He went that the first shall be last, and the last first. The least will be greatest. The rejected will be chosen.

Many who would be considered poor or would consider themselves as poor are poor only. They are very sad, often angry, and certainly not blessed or “happy” as some translations read. But many godly poor are certainly not poor in spirit. They live with a confidence that God is guiding and supporting them by His presence. They are able to love and share and witness to the blessedness (happiness) of possessing the love of God in abundance.

Although I do not completely understand the blessedness of the poor, I understand all too well the four woes that follow in Luke’s Gospel. Luke 4 gives only four beatitudes, but they are followed by four woes: Woe to the rich, woe to the well-fed, woe to those who laugh, and woe to those who receive worldly acclaim (4:24-26). I cannot help but consider how those woes accurately describe many of us in the western world. We may say the phrase, “Money cannot buy happiness,” but we sure try.

Shea sang, “I’d rather be His than have riches untold.” Scripture teaches that “godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it” (1 Timothy 6:6-7). Worldly possessions may last for a lifetime, but a relationship with God through Christ lasts for eternity. True happiness is not found in how many possessions one has but in finding contentment in the knowledge that God has you.

The low road to happiness is taken by those who would rather have Jesus than anything, by those who want Jesus more than air to breathe, more than gold and silver, more than power and affluence. When we want Jesus more than food and life itself, we are filled with the peace, joy and presence of Jesus. If Jesus is all you want, you are most blessed above all people.