Monday Morning Encouragement -- A Joyful Heart

"A joyful heart is good medicine, But a broken spirit dries up the bones." Proverbs 17:22


I've often thought that Christians should be the merriest people on earth. We have a relationship with the Creator, the God of the universe! His Holy Spirit lives within us! We have the abundant life in Christ now, as well as all of eternity with Him to which we can look forward. Of course there is a proper time for grief, and we should mourn over sin, but scriptures such as Proverbs 17:22 seem to support my theory that God approves of laughter. 


I'm not the only one who thinks so. Charles Spurgeon included a chapter called "Pure Fun" in his autobiography, in which he writes, "It is a sort of tradition of the fathers that it is wrong to laugh on Sundays. The eleventh commandment is, that we are to love one another; and then, according to some people, the twelfth is, 'Thou shalt pull a long face on Sunday.' I must confess that I would rather hear people laugh than I would see them asleep in the house of God; and I would rather get the truth into them through the medium of ridicule than I would have it neglected, or leave the people to perish through lack of reception of the message. I do believe, in my heart, that there may be as much holiness in a laugh as in a cry; and that, sometimes, to laugh is the better thing of the two. . ." 


Did Jesus laugh? Here's what Gotquestions.com has to say about that:

"Jesus had a serious mission to accomplish in this world, but He was not one to be somber all the time. There is no verse in the Bible that says, “Jesus laughed,” but we know that He empathized with us completely and felt all of our emotions. Laughter is part of life, and Jesus truly lived."


I believe joy begins with a thankful heart, so I selected Don Moen's With A Thankful Heart for today's music video. Let's praise the Lord for all He does, including giving us laughter.



I love you, I'm thinking of you, and I'm praying for you.








3 comments

  1. Laughter has been proven to keep our bodies and mind healthy so I am so sure Jesus laughed and was pleased and found joy in getting the message out. I hope so anyway. Have a great week. Hugs. Kris @ junk chic cottage.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you Nancy! I like that Proverb.. we need laughter in our lives for sure! This music was beautiful.. I loved the words and the harmony as they sang. xoxo Marilyn

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh Nancy, what I do know is how much I’ve enjoyed your laughter, especially in the midst of sharing spiritual truths and loving one another. We love laughing together as we fellowship! Love you, friend!

    ReplyDelete

Your comments bring me joy! Thanks for stopping by.