Does God Have a Sense of Humor?

Everyday you meet one or two (the number is not very big) people who can make you laugh with the way they say a word or a phrase.  There is usually one in a group. Wish there were more of these picker-uppers!  

Many of my favorite public speakers are those with a sense of humor. They have an uncanny ability to make the audience ROFL (Roll On the Floor Laughing) and therefore hold their interest.

There is of course a debate on how sermons should be delivered. Some say that jokes have no place at the pulpit; some believe they do. Both have a point. 

Now a question arises: Does God have a sense of humor?

Sure He does!

In layman's logic (particularly this layman), man was created in His own image. Therefore, we are able to appreciate, express humor and laugh at it.  The free online dictionary defines “sense of humor” as 1) the trait of appreciating, and being able to express, the humorous; 2) a disposition to find causes for amusement; 3) the ability to perceive, enjoy, or express what is comical. 

Ergo, all good traits and talents people have are gifts from God—sense of humor being one of them. 

Didn't God inspire the author of Proverbs (15:13) to write, "A happy heart makes the face cheerful"?  And in verse 30, "A cheerful look brings joy to the heart."

In 6:24, we are told the power of words, "Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones."

When I read my Bible, I often find myself chuckling at the surprising twists and turns of events, and how some characters develop from story to story with extraordinary plots. Some sentences are worded so graphically they make one smile, or even giggle.   

There are many jokes about nagging wives, but the images this verse evokes is a riot—Proverbs 21:9, “Better to live on a corner of the roof than share a house with a quarrelsome wife." Just imagine a man living on the corner of a roof on a hot summer day or a stormy night.

How about Proverbs 22:13? "The sluggard says, 'There is a lion outside!'"

Now that I am a senior, unable to remember my child-bearing years, Hebrews 11:11-12 is definitely comical: “It was by faith that even Sarah was able to have a child, though she was barren and was too old . . . And so a whole nation came from this one man who was as good as dead—a nation with so many people that, like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore, there is no way to count them.”

“As good as dead” is a hyperbole of hysterical order.    

Unfortunately, much of what the world calls humor today is not witty nor funny, but is warped and crass—expressed at the expense of others; they tear down instead of build up.

What makes God's sense of humor oh-so-delightful is that it is always pure—never cruel nor hurtful.

Isn't that what grace is all about?

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