A cheerful heart is good medicine,

Proverbs 17:22

Years ago, when my son was 4 years old, he told me out of the blue me that Jesus just wanted us to play with Him.  At the time, I thought it was cute, it wasn’t until later that I realized how truly profound it is.

Watch a child play and you will know they aren’t thinking about tomorrow, they aren’t dwelling on the past, they are focused on right now.

My son asks me to play with him quite regularly.  And I do play with him a lot but sometimes I am too busy, or the physical pain I am experiencing is overwhelming and have to put play on hold. 

One day I decided to spend the entire day just hanging out with John.  I did what he wanted to do.  We tossed balls around the back yard, we played with blocks and watched a movie of his choice.  We played hide and seek and it was peaceful, relaxing and definitely a great time of bonding. 

None of those are things I would have chosen to do.  But he did.  And so, I entered into his world on his terms and we thoroughly enjoyed the day. 

I learned that playing is a great way to focus on this present moment – not the past and not the future, just this moment. 

I believe play is underrated.  I used to think, especially now, when I am going through this physically painful time when my chores are largely going undone, that giving myself permission to play seems luxurious, maybe even wasteful.  But I am learning to see it differently. 

I think playing with Jesus would be much the same.  It requires of me that I be willing to lay down my concerns about tomorrow and my regrets about the past and enter into this present moment.  It means I lay down my agenda and enter His world on His terms and discover what is on His heart today.

I believe my son was right – Jesus wants to hang out with us, to share moments with us, to delight in what is good and right and fun about our life, the life He has given us; to simply enjoy the moments of our day in spite of the pain or the illness or the hardships. 

As a bonus, this verse from Proverbs tells us that a cheerful heart is good medicine. 

Play makes my heart cheerful and my body needs good medicine. 

 What about you, could you use a little more cheer?  Could your body use some good medicine?

Perhaps play is one way to experience the good medicine that cheerfulness produces. 

Jesus, I want to enter Your day on Your terms and share the moments with You that have for me.  Forgive me for always coming with my agenda, my needs, my wants and help me learn the fine art of hanging out with You and my loved ones.  In Your name, I pray, amen.