Be cheerful!

I love Tuesdays. On most Tuesdays, Dad stops by my work. Sure, he gets to see me, but he would come by regardless. You see, as part of his ministry, he visits several businesses around town and takes prayer requests on long, wide strips of green paper. All week long he constantly prays for those people; in fact, he never stops praying for these people. There are two phrases that you can count on hearing him say, the first is "Don't forget to pray." He reminds me of this on a daily basis. The second is "Be cheerful!" For this, he is nearly famous. I cannot tell you how many people I've witnessed try to beat him to saying it.

Every few months he brings around a stack of Our Daily Bread booklets, a small, three month, daily devotional. Even on days when time is tight, anyone can afford to take a moment to read these; it's even posted online. In thinking about the Christmas season, it's hard sometimes to reconcile in my own mind the balance between being content to indulge in the celebration and also to vigilantly seek to help others who suffer; Sunday's entry helps a bit with this. You can find it here. It's based on Romans 12:15 "Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep."

So many people are suffering right now having recently lost a loved one. Others of us are trying to hold on to those last few precious moments we have with our loved ones before they are released from their mortal bodies and welcomed home to Jesus. Then of course there are others who are poor, hungry, homeless, and suffer at the hands of evil people. There certainly is a way for us to live out Romans 12:15 and to remain cheerful throughout. That cheerfulness is not based on human conditions but on true hope, on our faith in Christ. Without that cheer, that true joy, why would anyone see any difference in us. Who would want to leave their own downtrodden conditions to follow after a somber-faced Christian? The light of the joy of the Lord, His cheer, should shine through our eyes even in trying times.

So, I can decorate, celebrate, revel in the festivities, praise the Lord, comfort those who are mourning, weep over the losses in my own life, fight against evil, and thank God for all the gifts He's given us all this Christmas. I can certainly BE CHEERFUL!