The United States Declaration of Independence was drafted by Thomas Jefferson, then edited and adopted by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776. You and I are familiar with the words; “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.”

The right to live, the right to be free, and to pursue the coveted prize of happiness. Like love, happiness is sought by all, but most are looking in the wrong places. The unbeliever will never find happiness, the Christian, on the other hand, has it in his possession as a gift from his Father. There’s a whole book of the Bible dedicated to this subject, written by the wisest man on who ever lived, King Solomon.

With God given, supernatural, wisdom, Solomon set out in pursuit of happiness, contentment, and satisfaction. His hunting ground was the world. The record of this great adventure is found in the book of Ecclesiastes where Solomon puts before us a two part conclusion. The first part is found in chapter 1:1-2, the second in chapter 12:13-14 (Ecclesiastes is between Proverbs and The Song of Solomon)

Part 1 - Ecclesiastes 1:1 “The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. 2 "Vanity of vanities," says the Preacher, "Vanity of vanities! All is vanity."

This is much like reading the end of a book and spoiling the plot. We have the conclusion of Solomon’s research before we are allowed to see how he went about it. If you continue to read, which I hope you will, you will find that Solomon indulged himself in every worldly pleasure known to man and found nothing but emptiness. He filled his treasuries with gold, silver, precious stones but he was not happy. He poured himself into profitable work, built things that the world would marvel at, yet he was empty, discontent, unsatisfied. He had wives and concubines by the hundreds, there was nothing he did not try, nowhere he did not look in his pursuit of happiness and contentment. In the end he says, it was all vanity! It promised everything and delivered nothing. Which brings us to his second and final conclusion. It is true that everything the world has to offer is empty, vain, and worthless. But now he tells us where to find what we all want desperately to possess, happiness, contentment, joy, and peace.

Ecclesiastes 12:13 “The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. 14 For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.”

In other words, put your hope and trust in God, make him your supreme joy and satisfaction. Hope in God and you will find happiness, contentment, and joy not only in this life, but in the next as well. The New Testament says the same thing using different words – look with me at 1 Timothy 6:6.

“But godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment. 7 For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either. 8 If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content. 9 But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. 11 But flee from these things, you man of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and meekness.”