Are You Happy?

(Begin with sound effects of local market crowds.)

1. Good morning (use local greetings) I see you have brought a heavy load of (local fruit or vegetables) to sell.
2. MAN: Yes, I hope I can sell it all. I need money for my family. I'll be glad to put this load down. Oh, I see a place where I can set up. (crowd sounds)

VOICE OF A SELLER: Hey, don't set up so close. You'll block my customers.

2nd SELLER: Watch what you're doing. You almost knocked my stacks of fruit down.

MAN: Sorry, but I have to sell my stuff too. I need the money.
CUSTOMER (new voice): How much for a kilo?

MAN: Ten rupees a kilo for the good quality - fifteen for the best quality,
CUSTOMER: Give me three kilos of best quality.

MAN: OK. I'll put them on the scales. There now, That's right.
CUSTOMER: Hey, don't you know you will have to give account for what you are doing, some day?

MAN: What are you talking about?
CUSTOMER: I saw you mix some poor-quality ones with the best quality. Don't you know that when you cheat people, God sees what you do?

MAN: I didn't do any thing wrong. Go and buy from someone else if you don't like my vegetables.
CUSTOMER: I do like your vegetables. I just don't want to be cheated. Friend, you look unhappy.

MAN: Should I be happy when you call me a cheater?
CUSTOMER: Did you know there is a way to find true happiness?

MAN: True happiness! What kind of a question is that? I can tell you what will bring me true happiness. Just show me how to get enough money without working so hard for so little.
CUSTOMER: So you think money will bring you happiness? Will money bring you peace? Will money stop your worry and your anger? Will money take away your fears? Haven't you seen rich men who were unhappy? Most of them are never satisfied, always wanting more.

MAN: Oh, here is another customer.
CUSTOMER ~ 2: How much?

MAN: Fifteen rupees for a kilo for the good quality and twenty for the best quality.
CUSTOMER ~ 2: What! 20! Robbery! I'll give you 17 rupees for the best quality. [If desired, have them bargain]

MAN: Here, I'll give you some extras, but don't tell anyone.
CUSTOMER ~ 2: All right, good-bye.

CUSTOMER ~ 1: Don't you see you are putting obstacles in the way of your own happiness?

MAN: What are you talking about now?
CUSTOMER ~ 1: I saw you cheat that man. You mixed the vegetables, and charged him even more than you did me.

MAN: (exclamation of disgust) Well, How can I get enough to feed my family if I don't cheat a little? Rich people can afford to pay more. And anyway, they cheat to get rich.
CUSTOMER ~ 1: Friend, the greatest riches and the greatest happiness is within your reach. But you must stop putting obstacles in your way.

MAN: What do you mean? What obstacles?
CUSTOMER: Do you agree that a man who has peace of mind and real contentment is a happy man?

MAN: Of course.
CUSTOMER: Isn't it true that being rich or famous doesn't necessarily make a person happy?

MAN: I suppose so.
CUSTOMER: If you get more money, you still will be unhappy, because true happiness comes from a different source. The obstacle that stands in the way is SIN. That is what is keeping you from happiness.

MAN: Wait a minute. Just because I put a few of the lower quality vegetables in with the best ones, you say I'm a sinner? You don't know what you are talking about. I do a lot more good things than bad things. I work for a living. I don't steal. I'm faithful to my wife. I've never killed anyone. I don't even beat up people who do me wrong.
CUSTOMER: But God says that is not enough. Your good deeds cannot win His favor.

MAN: And why not?
CUSTOMER: Do you see that pile of garbage over there?

MAN: See it? I don't have to see it! I can smell it! I wish they would take it away.
CUSTOMER: What if you were a great king, and one of your subjects brought those rags from that pile and offered them to you as a gift to the king?

MAN: Hah! That's a joke. No one would dare to do that.
CUSTOMER: It says in God's book that all the good works we try to do to win His favor are just like those filthy rags.

MAN: Oh! How can that be?
CUSTOMER: God is holy. He is only good. All that He does is good, and pure and right. When God created the first man and woman He made them like Himself. That does not mean that He made them to look like Him, but He made them to have a character like His character, with goodness and purity. But the first man and woman chose to disobey Him. And because they chose to sin, all of their descendants also sinned. None of us has lived a pure life without sinning. Our ways are not always good, always pure. Our characters are not like God's character. We cannot say we are always good, for we have sin in our lives. Can you say you have never sinned?

MAN: I thought you were going to tell me how to find happiness. If I could get a good job and earn wages every week, I certainly would be happy.
CUSTOMER: Friend, you are indeed earning wages, and that is what I'm concerned about! You see, God says that the wages of sin is death!

MAN: Death? What does that mean?
CUSTOMER: Wages are something a person deserves to get for the work he has done. And so a man's life brings wages at the end of it. A sinful life only earns the wages of sin. And that is death. The wages of sin is death. That's what God's book says.

MAN: Oh.
CUSTOMER: We all have sinned, and the wages of sin is death. God says that all sin has to be paid for, and the payment is death. That means that after we die we will be separated from God and all that is good. If we sin, we must die - that is the wages of a sinful life.

MAN: If that is true, that is bad news. I thought you were going to tell me about happiness. There is no happiness in that. Hopeless! It is an impossible situation.
CUSTOMER: Friend, we have to confront the bad news about our sin before we can understand the good news about what God has done, to give us a way out of that bad news. We can not find a way out by ourselves. We are sinners, and sin keeps us from having favor with God. But here is the good news: God says, The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life. And that gift is for you.

You say it is an impossible situation. But what is impossible for us is possible for God. God knew that we are hopelessly trapped in our sins. Because He loves us, He Himself has provided a way out. He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to earth to become our Savior. He is the only One who could save us from our sins. Jesus lived on this earth as a man. He suffered and faced the same struggles that we face day after day. But He never sinned. He never disobeyed His Father, God. He never thought or said, or did anything wrong. But He was willing to take the punishment of death for our sins.

Because He had no sin, He could pay the debt of our sin. Wicked men killed Him, but He willingly took all the sins of all the people who ever lived, and allowed His blood to be shed as payment. So now, if we come to Him, believing and trusting in Jesus, we can receive His gift of eternal life, instead of eternal death. That is the only way to find favor with God, and true happiness. God's Book says, "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not die but have everlasting life." So now, if we trust in what Jesus has done for us instead of trusting in our own efforts, we can have favor with God. We can have His gift of eternal life, instead of eternal death.

MAN: Those are strong words.
CUSTOMER: When we understand that all sin is like a wall between us and God, and that Jesus is the only one that can take away that wall, then we will know that it is not a hopeless, impossible thing. Being sorry for our sin, and turning away from it is called repentance. We can ask God to forgive us and He will do it. And that, my friend is how to get true happiness!

MAN: If I wanted to repent, what would I do?
CUSTOMER: The wonderful thing is that you can talk to God at any time. He will hear you, and Jesus will help you to understand. You will find peace and happiness. You will be a new person as you follow in His ways. You will not want to go back to your sins. Jesus has promised to help you. He can make you strong to resist evil. He will help you when trouble comes. He says, "I will never leave you, nor forsake you."

--This is for you who are listening. Do you also want to find true happiness, and peace? Or do you want to go on trying to pay for your sins, yourself? God's book says that every sin must be paid for. Will you accept the free gift of forgiveness? You cannot buy that gift. Jesus has already paid the price with His own blood. God will not accept any other payment. He wants to give you this gift because He loves you. You may choose to accept it, or you may choose to refuse it. Those who accept it will receive everlasting life, and will live with Him in great happiness. Remember that Jesus paid with His life to save you from everlasting punishment.

Ref: Rom 6:23, John 3:16, Heb 13:5