Daily Devotion, February 9, 2022

Devotion:

Read Proverbs 17:22.

In my family and extended family there was a great deal of joy and laughter. My Dad had four brothers and family reunions were filled with humorous stories and laughter! We all enjoyed reading the “Laughter, the Best Medicine” pages in the “Reader’s Digest”. Church life provided many, many joyful times! And the King James Bible version, “A merry heart doeth good like a medicine!” was often quoted to cheer us up when we were sad!

Even though laughter was in every part of our lives, my perception of Jesus was that he was very serious! My college religion professor had on his office wall a framed picture of Jesus’ laughing which helped to change that! He encouraged us to see Jesus’ smiling and laughing and to hear the humor in some of Jesus’ words.

Zoom ahead to Christmas 2021 and I was delighted to receive from a friend a little devotional book by Robert Strand titled, “Joy”! Joy is a gift from God. If it is a gift from God it is part of God’s nature, too!

Throughout the years, whether during Vacation Bible School, Mission trips, or any group experiences of service through the church, joy and laughter are present! It is a gift of God’s Spirit!

This week our devotionals focus on the values that are the foundation of our shared ministry at Christ Church. Proverbs 17:22 is one of the wise sayings of the Bible which values “a cheerful heart.” One of our church’s values is, “At Christ Church, while we take our ministries to serve God and our neighbors seriously, we do not take ourselves so seriously; so, we are playful and have lots of fun as a church.”



Not taking ourselves too seriously is a gift too, because we are trusting God to lead, guide, to be faithful and to take care of us, no matter what. It helps us to remember a line from a worship song we sing, “It’s not about us…it’s about Jesus!” Our mission is greater than ourselves!

Personal Worship Option:

Lord open my eyes and ears today to see and hear the gifts of joy all around us: in the birds’ songs, in the beauty of Your creation, in laughter of children, youth and people of all ages. Give our church visions of mission and ministry which bring Your joy into the lives of others. Amen.