A Cheerful Heart

DEVOTION

PROVERBS

A CHEERFUL HEART

Prov 17:22

22 A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.

NIV

One of the more famous proverbs is here for us to deal with. It seems we always hear the first part but not too much of the second part. Having a cheerful heart requires some work for us with a checkup from the neck up. Our attitudes have a great deal to do with the condition of our heart. If we moan and groan about a host of things, it is sure we will not have a cheerful heart; in fact we just might be drying up our bones. Although it is true there may be many areas we might complain about, it does more harm to us than it does to what we are complaining about. If we are always talking about our own aches and pains, it might well simply increase them. It seems the more attention we pay to them; the more they dominate our lives. If we have a cheerful heart, trusting in God, doing his will for our lives, it does seem as though those aches and pains are less. Science, which God invented, or rather created, has found the truth in this cheerful heart business. If we complain about things or people outside of our own self, the truth remains the same. Complaining about another person’s personality, or the way they do something or how the church is run, or the color of the carpet, walls, or whatever can only bring dry bones to our body. Finding faults with others or with things outside our control can destroy the opportunity of having a cheerful heart, and works to dry up our bones. So let us keep a cheerful heart, let us decide to have a cheerful heart which brings health to our bones.