The Pursuit of Happiness

I think it's a given that everybody wants to be happy. We might disagree on what a happy life looks like, but we all want to have joy, be satisfied, fulfilled, deeply content. So, excluding those who have given up on finding it, it is a natural thing for people to search for joy or happiness. I think it's the drive that brings us from one day to the next. We are either strengthened by the joy that we are experiencing now, or we are strengthened by the hope that joy will come in the future.
The question of the day is: how do we catch the joy that we are chasing? I would say that the first principle we have to understand is that joy is not an object to be obtained. Instead, joy is the effect of obtaining something else. In other words, joy is an abstract idea that cannot be sought after. The "Pursuit of Happiness" is a misnomer because it is not really happiness that we are pursuing. Instead we are pursuing things that we perceive will bring us happiness. So someone might say, "If I could just get this job, then I will be happy." or "If I could just get married and start a family, then I will be happy." Even though happiness is desired, an object must be obtained in order to gain that happiness. So here is the question I ask myself, "What object am I pursuing?" "What do I chase because I believe it will give me joy?" As I have been thinking about this I have come to an important realization. Since joy is an effect, it only lasts as long as its cause lasts. And it is only as solid as it's cause is solid. If the cause of my joy is money, then I will only have joy as long as I have money. If the cause of my joy is a relationship, then I will only have joy as long as that relationship is strong. I began to think about the kind of joy that I want to have. I don't want temporal, weak joy. I want unshakable, eternal, immeasurable joy. Therefore, the object that I am chasing must be unshakable, eternal, and immeasurable. This is what it means to have a relationship with Jesus Christ. Sometimes my heart is fixed on temporal things. So my joy either doesn't come at all, or it is short lived. But when Jesus is the One my heart pursues I find myself in this strange paradox of receiving Him and yet longing for more. So I have joy because I have found the object of my desire, yet I know that deeper joy is in store for me. And I know that since He is eternal, unchangable, immeasurable, and perfect, so my joy will be also.