Don't Take Life Too Seriously

As a whole, people take life too seriously. Now you might want to disagree, saying that we need to take life seriously. There are deadlines to meet, and responsibilities to take care of. If we didn't take these things seriously, then the world would fall apart. Right? And yet, if we get too serious about life, then we lose the fun that God created us to have.
This morning, as I was getting ready for work, my daughter put on these blow-up clown shoes that she won at a birthday party. It was impossible for her to be serious with these shoes on, and her laughter and fun made me smile and laugh. In fact, as she was playing some music, I had to stop getting ready for a moment and dance with her a little. So what if I was a couple minutes later to work!
There is a cartoon of a young man speaking to his minister; he says,“Being a minister must be really hard. I mean, living for others, leading an exemplary life. That’s a lot of responsibility. The pressures must be tremendous! The people are always watching you, waiting for one false move. I don’t know how you handle it!” The minister smiles and says: “I stay home a lot.”(Amusing Grace, #746)
When we let the pressures and seriousness of life get to us, then we get all stressed out. And when we are all stressed out, life no longer becomes fun. We just go through the motions of work, go through the motions of parenting, go through the motions of daily living. There is no excitement or enjoyment of life when we are stressed. This is not how God designed us to be!
We need to relax more when it comes to living life, and be more like children. One of the wonderful aspects of children is their creativity. When is the last time you were really creative. In Matthew 19:13-15, some people were bringing their children to Jesus. The disciples thought that Jesus' ministry and time were too important to be bothered by children, and so they tried to keep the children away. But Jesus said: “Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs.”
How can you be more like a child today? How can you be more playful and creative? How can you have more fun in this life God gave you, and take life less seriously?
Do you agree? Write me and share your thoughts on this subject (pastorchrislogan@yahoo.com)