And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

Psalm 1:3

Well I suppose we have covered the, “How” part of this series. According to Psalm 1 we should avoid the teaching of this world: a fervent refusal to walk in their ungodly counsel, stand in their sinful way, or sit in the scorner’s seat. Rather, we are instructed to meditate upon God’s word night and day. We are meant to delight in it. Figuratively speaking, we are suppose to grow our roots deep down into the watery soil of the Bible and that will nourish and produce a biblical kind of fruit. The Holy Spirit teaches us that we are meant to function like a tree where our roots determine our fruits.

But what is this fruit of the happy man? What is this blessed state being described for us in the Psalter? I mean we all want to, “feel” happy, and our happiness will certainly involve our feelings; but it must be more than that. Surely, this blessed state promises more than soap bubble feelings. And of course it does.

A Happy Man is a Spirit-filled Soul Winner

When we compare scripture with scripture we get a crystal clear description of the fruit that is produced from God’s abiding word.

The Fruit of Souls

The fruit we are intended to produce is obviously the fruit of souls that we win to Christ (Matt 13:38; Rom1:13; James 5:7). The world is likened unto a field and the word of God is like a seed that is sown in the hopes it will produce fruit (Mark 4:3-8). As believers we are called like our parents before us to be fruitful and multiply: to reproduce spiritual sons of God (Gen 1:28; 9:1).

Again, we are meant to function as a tree and a tree is meant to produce fruit, which is a seed producing mechanism designed for the reproduction and multiplication of other fruit trees. That is happiness. It is beyond the feelings. It is the fulfilment of one’s purpose. It is living in harmony with one’s design. the happy man is a soul winner.

The Fruit of the Spirit

The fruit we are intended to produce is also the fruit of Christ’s character. We see this clearly in Galatians 5:22-23. We are meant to produce the very life of Christ outwardly in all that we do.

But we must not make the mistake of compartmentalising these as two different kinds of fruit as if we could produce one without the other. They are the same fruit. In the Galatians list the very first fruit of the Spirit is the love of Christ. Are we to suppose we can produce this love which effected the blood of Christ to be shed for the lost without feeling any compassion for the lost ourselves.

You can go through the list and see how each slice of fruit in Galatians is inextricably connected to the gospel. We cannot produce the fruit of the Spirit apart from a desire for the fruit of souls. We are meant to be like Christ; but if we are, then would we not give our life for the lost.

The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise.

Proverbs 11:30

This is what the happy man looks like. He is roots deep in God’s word so that the very life of Christ is produced in him and reproduced in the life of others. The happy man is a Spirit-filled soul winner.

Is that what your happiness looks like?

Until next time …