20(Proverbs 15,13) A Cheerful Heart

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

One sunny Sunday morning, Henry Jones awoke to find his wife standing over him,shaking him by the shoulder.

"You have to get up," she urged. "We have to get ready for church.” "I don’t want to go to church," he replied. "I want to stay in bed.” Crossing her arms over her chest, his wife demanded,

"Give me three good reasons why you should stay in bed and not go to church."

"OK," he answered. "First, I don’t get anything out of the service. Second, I don’t like the people there. And third, no one there likes me.

Now can you give me three good reasons why I should go to church?"

His wife responded, "First, it will do you some good. Second, there are people who really do like you, and they’ll miss you if you aren’t there. And third, you’re the pastor!"

I.       A happy heart (mind) makes the face cheerful.

A.     Countenance – Face.

§  Some have that sourpuss look. They have had it so long its locked on.

B.     Not just a Hollywood smile all the time.

§  It is a joy of life.

§  It is not taking oneself too seriously.

§  It is a heart that is freed from anxiety.

§  KJV Proverbs 12:25 Heaviness in the heart of man maketh it stoop: but a good word maketh it glad.

§  NKJ Proverbs 12:25 Anxiety in the heart of man causes depression, But a good word makes it glad.

C.     Encouragement is in itself a ministry.

II.    A cheerful heart is a continual feast. (Prov 15:15).

III. A cheerful heart is good medicine.

§  NKJ Proverbs 17:22 A merry heart does good, like medicine, But a broken spirit dries the bones.

§  Proverbs 18:14 The spirit of a man will sustain him in sickness, But who can bear a broken spirit?

An anonymous friar in a Nebraska monastery wrote the following late in life:

If I had my life to live over again, I’d try to make more mistakes next time. I would relax, I would limber up, I would be sillier than I have been this trip. I would take more trips. I would be crazier. I would climb more mountains, swim more rivers, and watch more sunsets. I would eat more ice cream and less beans. If I had to do it over again I would go places, do things, and travel lighter. If I had my life to live over I would start barefooted earlier in the spring and stay that way later in the fall.  I would ride on more merry-go-rounds. I’d pick more daisies.