Seriously, I like to laugh. Someone has said laughter is the sensation of feeling good all over and showing it in one place. Laughter is one of God's lubricants for life.Spiritual giants such as C. H. Spurgeon and Martin Luther were hooked on the stuff. Luther once kidded, "If they don't allow laughter in heaven, then I don't want to go there." He went on to add, "If the earth is fit for laughter then surely heaven is filled with it. Heaven is the birthplace of laughter." When Spurgeon's elders asked him to "tone down" his humor from the pulpit, he replied, "If only you knew how much I held back, you would commend me."
Some of the most fun-loving people I know are "spiritual giants" of our age. Bill and Vonette Bright enjoy laughing with each other and teasing one another as much as anyone I know. Chuck Swindoll has people who love his laugh almost as much as his preaching! Howard Hendricks peppers his messages with hilarious stories. It doesn't take much to imagine that our Savior, Jesus Christ, had the most winsome smile and the heartiest laugh ever.
But the way some Christians live, you'd think God had neglected to create a giggle-box. They act as though enjoying a couple of laughs a week is really excessive.
We shouldn't take things so seriously that we think everything depends on us. We shouldn't get too busy to have fun. We shouldn't become so goal-oriented that we subtly begin to think that people-especially our family members-are "in the way."
When was the last time you got down on all fours and "ate" your infant's tummy? Or wrestled with your adolescent? Or did something really rowdy or goofy at the dinner table? One evening we threw marshmallows at one another and laughed so hard we cried.
Life wasn't created by God to be friction-free. Laughter doesn't level life's obstacles, but it does make the climb easier to bear.