Do you ever wonder if God takes time out to have a laugh during His job of running the entire universe? The following comes from the book "Bible Marvels Oddities and Shockers" by Paul Kent.
" God must have a sense of humor, they say, because He created human beings. With all the crazy things people do, the Lord must enjoy a good chuckle now and then.
A more serious approach to humor, the logical one, goes something like this: Since (A) God created people in His own image, and since (B) people have a sense of humor, then (C) God Himself must have a divine funny bone. Unfortunately, that kind of logic falls apart if you plug different variables into the equation. Since (A) God created people in His own image, and since (B) people like to sin, it certainly doesn't follow that (C) God Himself likes to sin. A Bible writer named James was adamant about that: "When tempted, no one should say, 'God is tempting me.' For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He tempt anyone."...
Though we mentioned the lack of a definite answer in the Bible, we do find hints of humor here and there. The actual word humor appears not a single time in either of the two most popular Bible translations; we do, however, find a handful of references to laughter - even by God Himself.
But we need to be honest here: God's laughter, found three times in the Psalms, really isn't good-natured. What we see is evil men dissing God or hassling righteous people, and God laughing. The 37th Psalm captures His true attitude: "The Lord laughs at the wicked, for He knows their day is coming." That's not the kind of chuckle you'd share with a friend.
So how about Jesus? Surely the human face of God laughed with His disciples, sharing some great "guy moments" with the twelve, right? If so, none of the New Testament writers thought to jot it down...
Jesus talked about laughter. In a list of blessings and woes, the Lord warned those "who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep." But He also gave laughter a thumbs-up when He encouraged those "who weep now, for you will laugh."
I do believe God has a sense of humor. But I also believe it's a measured part of His being. That would be quite unlike modern society with it's constant barrage of blond jokes, sitcoms, comedy clubs, political speeches, and so on.
Jesus once prayed that His disciples would have "the full measure of My joy within them." That cornucopia of spiritual goodies known as the "fruit of the Spirit" puts joy second on the list - just after love. An old-timer named Nehemiah liked to say, "The joy of the Lord is your strength." It's hard to imagine that kind of joy without laughter.
The fact that children flocked to Jesus seems to argue for a divine sense of humor, too. How many kids do you know who like dour, ever-serious grown-ups? "
There are two Biblical stories that I find amusing and show God's sense of humor. One is in 1 Kings 18:45-46. After the prophet Elijah calls on fire from heaven to burn the sacrifice he had prepared to show King Ahab and the 450 prophets of Baal, that his God is the real God, a heavy rain starts to fall. He then tells Ahab, "harness up and leave the mountain before the rain stops you." Ahab got in his chariot and made for Jezreel. "But the hand of the Lord was on Elijah, who girded up his clothing and ran before Ahab as far as the approaches to Jezreel." (verse 46)
Can you imagine what Ahab thought when he see's this crusty old prophet pick up his clothing, to free up his legs, and run faster than his horse and chariot?
The other is 2 Kings 10:27. After Jehu slays all the worshipers of Baal in the temple of Baal, he has his men completely destroy the temple, and builds a latrine on the site. Now can you imagine this: A family of Baal worshipers who were on vacation during this destruction of their temple, and know nothing about it. Return home and decide to go to the temple for worship. Only to find a large outhouse sitting on the temple site, complete with half-moons cut in the door and sides. What a surprise that would be.
As Paul Kent writes, "So go ahead - laugh, love, enjoy life. Yes, God has some serious things to say to us and some serious jobs for us to do. But He's also given us a lot of reason for joy and laughter. And that's no joke."
By George Konig
12/31/2006
www.georgekonig.org
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