I was reading my Word for Today Bible notes this morning and it made such an impression on me that I thought I would share it with you guys on this occasion :o)

'CELEBRATE GOD ALL DAY...' Phil 4:4

Erma Bombeck tells about observing a little boy in church who kept turning around and smiling at people. He wasn't spitting, kicking or destroying church property. He was smiling. Finally his mother jerked him around, slapped him and said, 'Stop that grinning! You're in church!' Then, as tears rolled down his cheeks she added, 'That's better,' and returned to worship.

Bombeck continued: 'It occurred to me that the entire world is in tears and...I wanted to hold this child with the tear-stained face and tell him about my God. The smiling God; the God who had to have a sense of humour to create the likes of us! [After all] if you can't smile in church, where's left to go?'

HL Mencken once described a Puritan as someone with a haunting fear that somebody somewhere was happy. Unfortunately, the same can be said of us; we are afraid to 'Celebrate God...' in case we come across as unspiritual or frivolous. No wonder the little girl prayed, 'Dear God, please make the bad people good - and the good people nice!'