Do you teach the Bible? If so, that's great. No other calling is more needed or carries with it greater responsibility. My advice?

    • Study hard
    • Pray for insight
    • Be accurate with facts
    • Be clear in your delivery
    • Take your time. Relive and imagine those scenes
    • Try not to blot out the colour
    • Guard against running a marathon with only seriousness setting your pace

When you happen upon those scenes where the lighter side appears, slow down and call attention to it.

Those you teach will not only appreciate it, they will also learn that among all His glorious attributes, God has a marvellous sense of humour. And they'll be much more interested in the other things He says that aren't at all funny.

I've noticed that those who are free enough to laugh when something is funny are better equipped not to laugh when nothing is funny.

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Excerpted from Day by Day with Charles Swindoll, Copyright © 2000 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. (Thomas Nelson Publishers). All rights reserved worldwide. Used by permission.