MONDAY DEVOTIONAL

“A joyful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit dries up the bones” (Proverbs 17:22, NASB).

When my mom was a young girl growing up in Oklahoma, the smell of homemade biscuits baking in the oven, and freshly gathered eggs frying in the skillet, would wake her up each morning. And before she even opened her eyes, she’d hear the sound of my Granny humming in the kitchen. “Good morning my sweetheart!” was the greeting Mom got when she walked out. “It’s going to be a great day today!” 

Granny had some good advice for Mom when she was a kid. Positive mottos like:

“Put worries on the back burner until they become a reality.”

“Worrying today takes away a fun day.”

“Enjoy the day and let it be a great one, because you can’t relive today.”

I remember visiting Granny one summer, and my siblings and I had a full day of outdoor fun planned. But when we stepped out onto the front porch, the sky was cloudy. “Oh no, it’s going to rain today!” my brother said. But Granny wouldn’t have that kind of talk. She said, “Danny Boy, don’t worry about those clouds—it’s going to be a good day regardless of the weather! So we’re not going to make it bad, are we? Wipe that gloomy look off your face—if it rains we’ll bake cookies!”

Every morning when you and I wake up, we have a choice to make that only we can make: to live the day with a joyful heart, or with a broken spirit. We can gather all the bad things that happened yesterday and worry about what might happen tomorrow. Or, we can make a deliberate choice to look for things—and do things—that bring joy. We can mumble and grumble, which according to today’s text, can even make us sick, or we can choose to look on the bright side.

If Granny was still alive today, she’d say to you, “And that’s good medicine for whatever ails ya!”

~ Pastor Nancy

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