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A glad heart makes a cheerful face, but by sorrow of heart the spirit is crushed (Proverbs 15:13, ESV).
I enjoy laughing.
I come from a family of laughter. Family get-togethers with my grandparents, my parents, my children, and my grandchildren have featured laughter for generations. Even during the loss of family members — it doesn’t take long at the memorial dinner after the funeral for laughter to begin.
Since almost all my “passed family members” were believers, laughter and joy are a better expression of the true reality of heaven (their current residence) than somber sobriety.
Let’s try laughing this week.
I’m not talking about flippancy or out-of-bounds jokes.
To me, considering that Jesus is Lord and Savior, then all evil, all governments, and all religious zealotry’s machinations of self-importance and control are funny.
God laughs at mankind’s arrogance too . . .
The Lord laughs at the wicked, for he sees that his day is coming (Psalm 37:13),
I remember talking to a cult member once, who told me that their leader taught them to be serious all the time because there is no verse in the Gospels of Jesus laughing.
True.
We don’t see Jesus in the throes of a good belly laugh, but we do see His teaching using hyperbole. All the apostles probably laughed when Jesus taught about a camel going through the eye of a needle or the Pharisees as white-washed tombs.
We know that Jesus was born in the likeness of mankind and experienced all the joys and temptations of being human. It would be difficult for God, who came in the flesh, to fully experience what we go through without a smile or two.
There is inappropriate humor. And I’m guilty of crossing this line. My “go-to” emotional response when I experience a difficult situation is laughter. I can be a master of sarcasm, but my wife reminds me that people often don’t understand my jokes as they sometimes fall flat or seem insensitive.
Stop laughing so much, Pastor Grant!
Let’s remember that there is a time to laugh and to cry (Ecclesiastes 3:4). And that the Bible encourages joy.
So I recommend having fun because there is nothing better for people in this world than to eat, drink, and enjoy life. That way, they will experience some happiness along with all the hard work God gives them under the sun (Ecclesiastes 8:15, NLT).
I first learned to laugh from my grandmother and mother. Despite World War I, the Great Depression, and World War II, they lived a life taught in Proverbs 31:25 . . .
She is clothed with strength and dignity, and she laughs without fear of the future.
At a party and in life, I would rather surround myself with people of good humor than ill-spirited and gloomy faces.
How about you?
Let’s try laughter this week.