A Merry Heart
“A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance” (Proverbs 15:3).
“He that is of a merry heart hath a continual feast.” (Proverbs 15:15).
“A merry heart doeth good like a medicine.”
(Proverbs 17:22).
I laughed till I thought I would be sick. The tears ran down my face, and my stomach hurt. When I thought about it later I realized what I was laughing at really wasn’t that funny. But then I thought of the above verses. God wants us to be happy, to laugh, to enjoy life. We are not to go around with long, sad, frowning faces.
There is of course a difference between having “a merry heart” and having a foolish heart. The Bible warns us to not be taken up with “foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient” (Ephesians 5:4).
So, like in most things, there needs to be a balance, realizing that there is a time and a place for everything. Even, “a time to laugh” (Ecclesiastes 3:4).
