For it is by grace you have been saved...

Tuesday, April 14, 2015

A Joyful Heart

Apparently, today is International Moment of Laughter Day.  I know that folks have come up with a holiday for just about anything and everything.  But I have to say, I'm all in favor of this one.

I'm sure you've heard Proverbs 17:22 quoted often in this context: “A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.” (ESV)  Some have paraphrased it to mean say that “laughter is good medicine” or “the best medicine.”  I don't think that is necessarily a one to one correlation.  After all, some laughter comes from less than wholesome means, but over all, laughter is good medicine.

Speaking of that verse, John Gill wrote of the “merry heart”:  It “does the body good, makes it healthful and vigorous. Cheerfulness of spirit has a great influence upon the body, and much contributes to the health and welfare of it.”  I know that a good laugh can alter my mood; can literally make me feel physically better.  It's good stuff.

Again, I know that the world is full of unwholesome laughter.  People laugh at the most vulgar things sometimes.  Just look at what some of your friends post on facebook with a “lol.”  But that doesn't change the fact that good, wholesome joy and laughter is good for you.

So, in honor of the day, here are a few clips of some of my favorite Christian funny guys.  Everyone's sense of humor is a bit different, so these may not be as fun for you as they are for me.  But even they even provide one brief “moment of laughter”, well then the celebration of the day has been successful.  Laugh it up!  (for my fellow Star Wars geeks, it's hard to even type that last phrase without adding “...Fuzz ball!”  but oh, well.  That's an entirely different moment of laughter.)




One one more Tim Hawkins, just because...





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