We all want to have a good time. Advertisers know this, and that’s why product ads feature people smiling even when doing normally distasteful chores.
- Scrubbing the toilet? Do it with a smile!
- Mowing the lawn? A happy expression tells our level of enjoyment!
- Washing the windows? We whistle as we work!
- Checking the oil in the car? It’s our chance to tell a funny joke!
We also see smiles on the faces of waiters, custodians, and bank employees. We expect to see a happy look on their faces, no matter the type of day they are having.
And at a party? If we’re not smiling, we’re not having fun!
Yet, Proverbs 20:1 tells us:
“Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler, and whoever is led astray by it is not wise.”
Are we truly happy, or is it a show? Is the smile on our face for the party, or will people still see it the next morning?
On a travel show centered on two men in their mid-twenties, the hosts met up with new “friends” in a bar. They drank, laughed, drank some more, and laughed some more. Leaving the bar, both men became ill and lost the contents of their stomachs. The next morning, one of the men proclaimed the evening the best he’d ever had, while the other rolled his eyes and shook his head. His laughter from the evening before had become a bleary-eyed headache.
If we use wine to bring on a smile, it will fade when the wine is gone. If we use our credit card to make us happy, the bill will wipe our smile away. Food? We have a diet in our future. Travel? One day we will have seen it all. Money? Can we trust people to love us for who we are, or do they love what we can give them?
These are all party smiles. Ephesians 5:18 gives us a better reason to smile:
“And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit…”
When we are filled with the love of God, our smile will be from the heart. How can we know our smile is real? When it outlasts the party. So, let’s smile, let’s laugh, and let’s have a great time. When our smile comes from the Lord, his party will never end.
Finding happiness in Jesus will allow us to spread our happiness to those around us.
Copyright © 2015 MyChurchNotes.net
Code: FGO.C.19.15.vp.esv