August 6 / Every Day GOD: Stop Chasing Happiness!

Jeremiah 35:1-19Amplified Bible (AMP)

35 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the days of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah:

2 Go to the house of the Rechabites and speak to them and bring them into the house of the Lord, into one of the chambers; then give them [who are pledged to drink no wine] some wine to drink.

3 So I took Jaazaniah son of Jeremiah, the son of Habazziniah, and his brothers and all his sons, and the whole house of the Rechabites,

4 And I brought them into the house of the Lord, into the chamber of the sons of Hanan son of Igdaliah the man of God, which was by the chamber of the princes, above the chamber of Maaseiah son of Shallum the keeper of the door.

5 And I set before the sons of the house of the Rechabites pitchers full of wine, and cups, and I said to them, Drink wine.

6 But they said, We will drink no wine, for Jonadab son of Rechab, our father, commanded us: You shall not drink wine, neither you nor your sons, forever.

7 Neither shall you build a house or sow seed or plant a vineyard or have them; but you shall dwell all your days in tents, that you may live many days in the land where you are temporary residents.

8 And we have obeyed the voice of Jonadab son of Rechab, our father, in all that he charged us, to drink no wine all our days—we, our wives, our sons, and our daughters—

9 And not to build ourselves houses to live in; nor do we have vineyard or field or seed.

10 But we have dwelt in tents and have obeyed and done according to all that Jonadab our ancestor commanded us.

11 But when Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon came up against the land, we said, Come and let us go to Jerusalem for fear of the army of the Chaldeans and the army of the Syrians. So we are living in Jerusalem.

12 Then came the word of the Lord to Jeremiah:

13 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Go and say to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, Will you not receive instruction and listen to My words and obey them? says the Lord.

14 The command which Jonadab son of Rechab gave to his sons not to drink wine, has been carried out and established [as a custom for more than two hundred years]. To this day they drink no wine, but they have obeyed their father’s command. But I, even I, have persistently spoken to you, but you have not listened to and obeyed Me.

15 I have sent also to you all My servants the prophets earnestly and persistently, saying, Return now every man from his evil way and amend your doings and go not after other gods to serve them; and then you shall dwell in the land which I have given to you and to your fathers. But you did not submit and consent to Me or listen to and obey Me.

16 Since the sons of Jonadab son of Rechab have fulfilled and established the command of their father which he commanded them, but these people have not listened to and obeyed Me,

17 Therefore thus says the Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I am bringing upon Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the evil that I have pronounced against them, because I have spoken to them, but they have not listened, and I have called to them, but they have not answered.

18 And Jeremiah said to the house of the Rechabites, Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Because you have obeyed the command of Jonadab your father and have kept all his precepts and have done according to all that he commanded you,

19 Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Jonadab son of Rechab shall never fail [to have] a man [descendant] to stand before Me.

God uses an illustration here to make a point to Judah.

For two hundred years, these people had obeyed everything their ancestor Jonadab had told them to do. They had been instructed to drink no wine and live in tents. Kind of weird. Camping is okay for a weekend. But living in tents for many generations is odd, and what's the point? I'm sure everyone looked at them strangely and thought of them as different. However, they simply obeyed. 
God longs for a people to obey His commands. Without question. To seek after Him. To walk with Him. Yeah, we're a little different from the natives of this world. We are viewed as being odd. We don't fit in.
But when we follow Him, we are blessed beyond belief. When we go our own way, we are doomed to destruction! As Judah was. 
Oh, and when we are chosen by God, we are miserable until we do His bidding. We can pretend all we want that we don't understand or notice. We may fool humans, but we can't fool God! He knows our heart! We can't pretend with Him!!!
I just visited with a young lady today after church this morning. She is sixteen. She has a beautiful singing voice. I said, "When are you going to just give up? Just give up fighting God's plan for your life and embrace it! He gave you this lovely voice to use for His Glory!!! I said, "I'm not going to stop pestering you about this! And more importantly, I'm not going to stop praying for you!!! God is calling you to sing His praises!!!" 
I'm thinking right now of another young lady with a lovely singing voice. You know who you are! When are you going to just give it all up??? Stop chasing happiness and start chasing Jesus!!! Life is soooo much simpler when we stop fighting, give in and live the life He has planned for us in the first place.
In verse 14 we read, "But I, even I, have persistently spoken to you, but you have not listened to and obeyed Me."
"Jesus I pray for the ones out there today who have God given gifts!!! That YOU have given them. They shun Your beautiful plan for their lives, and run around chasing happiness. They will NEVER find what they need out there, Jesus. Please continue to draw them! If they only could learn from this example from Your word today, Jesus, they would simply turn around, leave the world behind, and follow You. Into happiness. And joy beyond their wildest imagination! I chased after my own personal happiness for years, Jesus. I love how You allowed me to wallow in my pit of depression for awhile, then delivered me! I give You ALL the glory!!! AMEN."