Oh That God - His Creation Cracks Me Up!

A merry heart makes a cheerful countenance,but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken. - Proverbs 15:13

All the days of the afflicted are evil, but he who is of a merry heart has a continual feast!" - Proverbs 15:15

I love reading about dumb or outdated laws. They crack me up. Now, I am sure, at one time many of these dealt with dead serious issues but not today. Maybe I find them so hilarious because they are supposed to be so serious. Being built to be as somber as a funeral might be why I find some of them downright hilarious.

Some examples?

A San Francisco ordinance forbids the reuse of confetti. (This will make my son Chuck glad beyond words - Or, at least he would want them cleansed with sanitizer!)

In Danville, Pennsylvania, "fire hydrants must be checked one hour before all fires." I'd love to be the prophet they hire for that task! In Seattle, it is illegal to carry a concealed weapon of more than six feet in length. There goes my Alaska Pipeline sized bazooka - I'll just have to leave it at home, in the closet!

An Oklahoma law states that a driver of "any vehicle involved in an accident resulting in death shall immediately stop . . . and give his name and address to the person struck."

So He Can Handle You!

A piece of noise-abatement legislation was passed in the village of Lakefield, Ontario, which permits birds to sing for thirty minutes during the day and fifteen minutes at night.

But the humor does not stop with our local governments.

Preachers can be an incredibly funny lot as well. And when I study the sermons and read about the lives and lifestyles of the pulpiteers of yesteryear, I confess I often laugh my proverbial tush off! Many of them---deep down---were wild 'n crazy guys! Eh, Gary Johnson?

One pastor, (this is a true story but not Gary Johnson) as he was readying for his message one Sunday morning, noted a man coming early into the sanctuary. As the man drew near to the front the minister noted this man only had one good leg. The man carried a short stool with him. He came down the middle aisle, sat front and center in the very front row, sat down and placed his partial appendage on the stool. During the message, the pastor was really "going to town." He was fired up! He was preaching the joys of commitment and sacrifice in the Christian life. At one point as he concluded he looks up and across his audience, raises his right arm to heaven, makes a fist and says, "Even our Lord had no stool to place his stump!" There was dead silence - turned red as a beet and watched as a whole congregation (including his one-legged visitor) bust out in gut-wrenching laughter.

Such humor is not making jokes out of life; it's recognizing the ones that life just happen to embrace.

Now, you don't have to start reading the comics or watch all (or some even) of those mindless sitcoms. Honestly, most of them aren't even mildly amusing; they are mindlessly crass however. You don't need to start telling silly jokes to each other; although a few are okay. all of the aforementioned comedic methods are external, superficial, and shallow. I'm suggesting depth of joy that is far more significant. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, revealing life through us we can fertilize the garden of our very own lighter heart so that it grows into "joyful!" The way to do that is to have a confidence in the living God, the loving Creator, the sovereign Lord. He was the one that gave us humor and who smiles every time we enjoy His gifts, His creation, His personal invasion into our daily lives.

Christian pastor and writer Elton Trueblood said it like this: "The Christian is joyful, not because he is blind to injustice and suffering, but because he is convinced that these, in the light of the divine sovereignty, are never ultimate. . . . The humor of the Christian is not a way of denying the tears, but rather a way of affirming something which is deeper than tears." It's true JOY COMES IN THE MORNING and our morning began when Jesus invaded our individual lives!

Yes, a few things in life are absolutely tragic, no question about it. Today I suggest though that first among them is a joyless Christian. Don't be that guy or gal. A truly cheerful face comes from a joyful heart, not from a lack of concern for life's tragedies.

Join me, find a mirror, look into it and show all 7 of your pearly white teeth (or more if you have them...store bought or otherwise) and have the courage of your joyful spirit!

I remain…


InHISgrip,
   ~J~