Musings on Morals

Doing some thinking this afternoon....... on morals(pretty obvious, considering my title). Trying to come up with an idea for my next book in the 'Alan' series. A couple of my ideas: 'Truth', 'Faith under Fire', 'Lost in the World'.

Then another idea came to me from Dad; 'Joy'. Sounds like a good idea, especially considering I get asked very frequently why I am so joyful. Perhaps this could be a way to share with others in a creative way how I stay joyful, while categorizing and explaining to myself the reason. I have a guess. You ready for it? The Lord and His word.

These tend to be very good reminders of the many reasons I have to be joyful. A couple other things that seem to contribute: family, friends, co-workers(okay, just another group of friends), and other wonderful people in my life who keep me going.

Joy is one of those things that many people search for, but few find. I notice people searching for joy in the oddest places. Some try money, and end up disappointed when a financial 'crisis' occurs. Others try belongings, until their belongings wear out, or they run out of money to purchase new belongings with.

Some people even look like they should be happy, but they're not. I would assume that this has to do with misplaced values. The things that we value will determine our level of joy. If we place our value on things of this world, our joy will only last as long as the item we value, if that. If only there were something out there that lasted forever. Oh, wait, there is! The Lord has been around forever(still slightly confusing to me), and will be around forevermore. Here's something else that will last forever, His word. 1 Peter 1:25 says that "The word of the Lord endureth for ever.". We have this promise from God himself! If we decide to value the Bible and the Lord, we can be much happier people with a value on the eternal things.

Here's something that I personally find encouraging. I like to find people who are having a worse day than me in my day to day relations(trust me, it isn't that hard), and then try to help them with their struggles. The more time I spend focused on them, and their struggles, the less time I find to be worried about myself. A good way to help them, I have found out, is to simply be joyful around them. The joy will spread like a wildfire, as long as you keep it fed.

So, still not one-hundred percent sure if I'm writing a book on 'joy', but it is definitely one of my 'top ideas' currently(even if it wasn't originally my idea :-) ).