I love a good joke. Stay around me too long and you will probably hear a bad pun, a quick one liner, or some other quip. At times I have been criticized for my sense of humor, but I learned without it I might not be around. A 2005 study in the Handbook of Positive Psychology found that those who use humor to cope with stress tend to have especially healthy immune systems. It also found they are 40 percent less likely to suffer a heart attack or stroke, experience less pain during dental surgery and live four and a half years longer than average. These results shouldn’t surprise us too much. Proverbs 17:22 tells us “A joyful heart is good medicine, But a broken spirit dries up the bones.” Once again the truth of the word of God proves itself. A good laugh can be the best daily pill you can take.
In Acts 20, there is the tragicomic event surrounding a young man by the name of Eutychus. He did what a lot of folks before and after him did, he fell asleep during a sermon. Unfortunately, he was setting in in the third story window at the time. So instead of nodding off and hitting the pew in front of him, he fell to his death. The good news was the apostle Paul was delivering the sermon and had the ability to bring him back. I don’t know, however, if we can judge Eutychus too harshly. The sermon had gone on till midnight. Paul wouldn’t finish it up till daybreak. That’s a long lesson. I know some folks that might want to jump out of a window if I had a lesson that long, yet these Christians wanted to be there to hear Paul. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not pushing for all night sermons but I think we might need to adopt these folks' dedication. They knew that Paul was only in town for a limited time only and they were determined to ...
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