Thought for the Day – a cheerful heart

Graham Nicholls shares his Thought For The Day, ‘A cheerful heart’, how being cheerful is a good and godly thing.

Are you cheerful. How’s your sense of humour in lockdown?

Proverbs 17:22 says

A cheerful heart is good medicine,
    but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.

Humour is good

When we feel cheerful inside is tends to make us feel physically well

When we are feeling crushed in our spirits, with nothing to laugh about, we feel crushed physically – dry and dull and unable to enjoy anything

So having and sharing a joke is good. That experience of laughing together with family and friends, not in cruelty or ridicule but with that sense of shared amusement is a great experience.

Jesus uses humour as he tells his stories as he exaggerates and pokes fun to drive the point home.

Joy is deeper

But this speaks to a deeper reality. That Jesus brings us a continual deep joy knowing that we are truly loved and can rejoice in all circumstances.