Today, after a hard day’s fishing (hard for me, I didn’t catch anything) I had my son Chris clean the backyard.  He threw away the old seat cushions that Billybob had torn up.  (We aren’t too upset about this because they were “old” seat cushions.  Our other dog got a severe reprimand tearing up the very same cushions when they were “new” seat cushions. There’s probably a lesson in materialism there, we might write of that at another time.)  Chris also threw away the old pond pump that Billybob so enjoyed dragging around the yard without any apparent purpose other than to keep busy. He rolled up the hose that the pup had dragged across the yard.  The same was done for the extension cord that was likewise dragged across the yard.  Various scraps of paper and other debris that Billybob had brought into the yard from the garage were collected and discarded.  A carpet remnant that we use for a door mat, (the dog thinks that it’s some sort of toy), was also tossed.  The actual dog toys, balls, bones, and the like were left.  Things were looking pretty good. 

An hour later, I looked out the sliding glass door into the backyard.  The hose was extended across the pool.  Billybob, soaking wet from chasing the fish in the pond, (did I mention that this is one of his favorite pastimes?) had dragged the new carpet remnant into the middle of the yard and was shaking it vigorously.  I opened the sliding glass door.  Time seemed to freeze for just a moment as the pup’s attention was diverted from the carpet to the open portal.  Then in a flash, he came bouncing across the yard, leaped through the doorway in one bound and hit the easy chair with such force that I was sure it would topple.  Bouncing off the chair he came to my feet, gyrating wildly with that little nub of a Boxer tail wiggling at a rate of at least 300 beats per minute.  If he could speak, I’m sure that he would tell me “Oh Jack, you have no idea how much fun it is to be a Boxer puppy!!”  

It’s a silly story, yet true.  I’ve told it to say this.  That Boxer puppy, a dumb animal with really no future compared to that which the Lord offers me, is able to influence my moods.  Both Sandra and I have found that even in our darkest moods, that dog’s sheer joy at being alive is able to change our darkness into brightness.  And this he does without any effort or expense to himself.  He simply shares his happiness.  He just lets his light shine, and the world becomes happy around him. 

Proverbs 17:22a records “A merry heart doeth good like a medicine.”  We understand this when we look unto ourselves.  When we feel merry, we also feel healthier.  However, a merry heart does good like a medicine for those around us as well.  If the joy of a dog can make people happy, then how much more the joy of other people?  Our joy is a light that must not be hidden under a bushel.  The influence that the joyful can have on the moods of others is one reason that the saints need to assemble together often. 

We often misquote Hebrews 10: 25 as “Forsake not the assembling of yourselves together.”  This misquote allows us to lift the text out of context to teach a specific lesson.  That is that a Christian should make it to the meetings.  If quoted properly in context, we see not only command to attend but also the necessity thereof.  “Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:  Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.  (Heb 10:23-25)  We see that the exhortation is not simply to be here, but to encourage, and provoke one another unto love and good works.  We have lives that consist of emotional ups and downs.  Thanks be to God that we are not all in the same emotional states at the same time.  At each assembly there are those who due to heaviness of heart have a unique and special need of encouragement.  There are also those who due to their merry heart are uniquely qualified at that particular time to be encouragers.