Last week was cold and cloudy. It’s summer. This is not right. People in our town were grousing about the weather. I’m one of them. I caught myself in mid-whimper this morning complaining to someone at the post office. The guy said, “Hey, if it was this warm in January, we’d be outside in our shorts and t-shirts.” We laughed. How true. Perspective is important. So let’s go looking for things to smile about today, starting with two good jokes.
Joke 1:
An elderly couple is concerned about their failing memory, so their doctor tells them to start writing things down. At home the lady asks her husband to get her a bowl of ice cream topped with chocolate sauce. “You might want to write it down,” she says. “No,” says the husband, “I can remember.” So he ambles off to the kitchen and returns with a plate of bacon and eggs. The wife stares at the plate, and says, “I knew you should’ve written it down. You forgot the toast.”
Joke 2:
A man approaches a little boy and asks him, “Son, can you tell me where the post office is?” The boy replies, “Sure, just go down the street two blocks and turn right.” The man thanks the boy and says, “I’m the new pastor in town, and I’d like you to come to church on Sunday. If you come, I’ll show you how to get to Heaven.” The little boy laughs and says, “Aww, come on; you don’t even know the way to the post office!”
I like that little guy. The truth is, some of us can walk with Jesus and still seem a little lost. We tell the world we know the way to heaven, but we don’t exactly live like we’re going there. Reminds me of the bumper sticker, “Jesus, deliver me from your followers.”
One of the best gifts we can gift to friends who don’t follow Jesus is the gift of being real. “I knew Christians weren’t perfect,” a man told me, “because I knew you.” I’m still trying to find a compliment in that sentence. But maybe it’s this: The world won’t know we are Christians because we are faultless, but because of our love. The model for Christian living is simply reflecting the sacrificial love Jesus has shown us. Let’s spread that love around today.
You may want to pass along this joke as well:
A little girl was being punished by eating alone in the corner of the dining room. The family ignored her, until she prayed loudly: “Thank you, Lord, for preparing a table before me in the presence of my enemies.”
