What makes you smile?  A joke, a child, a scrumptious meal?  Maybe something interesting or new on the news?  Hearing about a bear hibernating in a house’s crawlspace this week made me smile, and cringe all at the same time.  Watching a diminutive muntjac deer face off with a gentile rhino made me smile – you may have seen these videos.  And car stuff makes me smile.  I read this week about an SUV with 1400 horsepower.  It can do 0-60 mph faster than a rumor sprinting through a small town.  And particularly funny this week was when I read about a guy who repeatedly breaks records of a human travelling in a trash can.  Yes, a trash can.  Current record?  65 mph.  Isn’t that something you wish you could do?  If the garbage can would do that down my driveway on its own accord, that would truly make me smile!

I think we need to smile more.  I know so.  Listen to what the Bible says:

A glad heart makes a cheerful face, but by sorrow of heart the spirit is crushed.

There are times when our hearts are full of sorrow.  And should be.  We lose a loved one, or a job, or our health.  And the Bible teaches us to mourn with those that mourn.  I’m not suggesting we ignore reality.  But this world does offer a lot to smile about.  And as Christians we have plenty to smile about – we have an eternity to smile about!

The above verse from Proverbs 15:13 says that a smile comes from a glad heart.  We can fake a smile, and sometimes we must, but a genuine smile comes from a glad heart.  What is in our heart?  If Jesus, if His Holy Spirit, fills our hearts, and not worry or a steady diet of angry news on TV, then we will smile.  We will be happy.

The next verse in Proverbs 15 says:

The heart of him who has understanding seeks knowledge, but the mouths of fools feed on folly.

I’m not sure about all that verse means, but it does say to me that our hearts are nourished by what we put into our heads.  And when we feed our minds folly (there I read useless and maybe even harmful stuff), we end up with hearts that don’t make us happy.

The last verse of this section says:

All the days of the afflicted are evil, but a cheerful heart has a continual feast.

Being cheerful feeds itself apparently.  A virtuous cycle is created when we feed on good things, and the good things make us smile, which makes us want to consume more good and helpful knowledge which makes us happy, which makes us wan…. You get the point.

I am pursuing happiness today.  It’s why I am in church.  I come to please the Lord, yes.  But the idea that God might be pleased with my praise and my worship makes me smile.  Which makes the Lord smile, which makes me smile, which…  Oh, here we go again!

Glad to be in church,

Craig

I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD.  Psalm 122:1