Enthusiasm, Having It Or Lacking It Speaks Loud!

12/4/05

 

 

Enthusiasm: passionate interest or eagerness to do something.

 

The opposite of enthusiasm is: boredom, dullness, insensitivity, unwillingness.

 

Enthusiasm speaks loud!

 

Ÿ         It says you love what you do.

Ÿ         You deeply appreciate what you can do.

Ÿ         You are thankful for life.

Ÿ         You have purpose.

 

A lack of enthusiasm sends a message also.

 

Ÿ         You’re bored.

Ÿ         You don’t care.

Ÿ         Not thankful.

Ÿ         Not interested.

 

Enthusiasm, having it or lacking it speaks loud!

 

Having it or lacking it speaks loud to the Lord!

 

Deut. 28:47 (New Living Translation) Because you have not served the LORD your God with joy and enthusiasm for the abundant benefits you have received, ⁴⁸you will serve your enemies whom the LORD will send against you. You will be left hungry, thirsty, naked, and lacking in everything. They will oppress you harshly until you are destroyed.

 

When you loose your vision or your purpose you also loose your enthusiasm.

 

In 586 B.C., the armies of Babylon had destroyed the temple in Jerusalem—God's house, the symbol of his presence with them. In 538 3.C. King Cyrus decreed that Jews could return to their beloved city and rebuild the temple. So they traveled to Jerusalem and began the work. But hen they forgot their purpose and lost their priorities, as opposition and apathy brought the work to a standstill (Ezra 4:4, 5). Then Haggai spoke, calling them back to God's values. "Is it a time for you yourselves to live in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?" (1:4). The people were more concerned with their own needs than with doing God's will, and, is a result, they suffered. Then Haggai called them to action: "This is what he lord Almighty says: 'Give careful thought to your ways. Go up into he mountains and bring down timber and build the house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored,' says the lord" (1:7,8). And God's message through his servant Haggai became the catalyst for finishing the work.

 

Hag. 1:12 (New Living Translation) Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Jeshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the whole remnant of God’s people obeyed the message from the LORD their God. It had been delivered by the prophet Haggai, whom the LORD their God had sent, and the people worshiped the LORD in earnest. ¹³Then Haggai, the LORD’S messenger, gave the people this message from the LORD: “I am with you, says the LORD!” ¹⁴So the LORD sparked the enthusiasm of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, Jeshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the whole remnant of God’s people.

 

Remember Jehoash, King of Israel, he didn’t have any enthusiasm for the things of God.

 

2 Ki. 13:10 In the thirty-seventh year of Joash king of Judah, Jehoash son of Jehoahaz became king of Israel in Samaria, and he reigned sixteen years. ¹¹He did evil in the eyes of the LORD and did not turn away from any of the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit; he continued in them.

¹²As for the other events of the reign of Jehoash, all he did and his achievements, including his war against Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel? ¹³Jehoash rested with his fathers, and Jeroboam succeeded him on the throne. Jehoash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel.

¹⁴Now Elisha was suffering from the illness from which he died. Jehoash king of Israel went down to see him and wept over him. “My father! My father!” he cried. “The chariots and horsemen of Israel!”

¹⁵Elisha said, “Get a bow and some arrows,” and he did so. ¹⁶“Take the bow in your hands,” he said to the king of Israel. When he had taken it, Elisha put his hands on the king’s hands.

 

 

¹⁷“Open the east window,” he said, and he opened it. “Shoot!” Elisha said, and he shot. “The LORD’S arrow of victory, the arrow of victory over Aram!” Elisha declared. “You will completely destroy the Arameans at Aphek.”

¹⁸Then he said, “Take the arrows,” and the king took them. Elisha told him, “Strike the ground.” He struck it three times and stopped. ¹⁹The man of God was angry with him and said, “You should have struck the ground five or six times; then you would have defeated Aram and completely destroyed it. But now you will defeat it only three times.”

 

David was a man of enthusiasm!

 

Ÿ         He lived life with enthusiasm.

Ÿ         He worshipped with enthusiasm.

Ÿ         He lead Israel with enthusiasm.

Ÿ         He served God with enthusiasm.

 

1 Sam. 17:32 David said to Saul, “Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him.”

³³Saul replied, “You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a boy, and he has been a fighting man from his youth.”

³⁴But David said to Saul, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, ³⁵I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. ³⁶Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. ³⁷The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.”

Saul said to David, “Go, and the LORD be with you.”

 

2 Sam. 6:12 Now King David was told, “The LORD has blessed the household of Obed-Edom and everything he has, because of the ark of God.” So David went down and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the City of David with rejoicing. ¹³When those who were carrying the ark of the LORD had taken six steps, he sacrificed a bull and a fattened calf. ¹⁴David, wearing a linen ephod, danced before the LORD with all his might, ¹⁵while he and the entire house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with shouts and the sound of trumpets.

 

The degree of our thankfulness is seen by our enthusiasm.

 

Lk. 17:11 Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. ¹²As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance ¹³and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”

¹⁴When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed.

¹⁵One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. ¹⁶He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan.

¹⁷Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? ¹⁸Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” ¹⁹Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”

 

How about the Word of God?  Are you bored with God’s Word--or, are you enthusiastic about the Word of God?

 

Acts 17:10 (Message Bible) That night, under cover of darkness, their friends got Paul and Silas out of town as fast as they could. They sent them to Berea, where they again met with the Jewish community. They were treated a lot better there than in Thessalonica. The Jews received Paul’s message with enthusiasm and met with him daily, examining the Scriptures to see if they supported what he said.

 

Enthusiasm has a way of stirring people up for action.

 

2 Cor. 9:1 (New Living Translation) I really don’t need to write to you about this gift for the Christians in Jerusalem. ²For I know how eager you are to help, and I have been boasting to our friends in Macedonia that you Christians in Greece were ready to send an offering a year ago. In fact, it was your enthusiasm that stirred up many of them to begin helping.

 

We honor the Lord by having enthusiasm in the way we minister and in the way we work.

 

1 Cor. 15:58 (New Living Translation) So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and steady, always enthusiastic about the Lord’s work, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless.

 

2 Cor. 8:16 I thank God, who put into the heart of Titus the same concern I have for you. ¹⁷For Titus not only welcomed our appeal, but he is coming to you with much enthusiasm and on his own initiative.

 

 

Eph. 6:6 (New Living Translation) Work hard, but not just to please your masters when they are watching. As slaves of Christ, do the will of God with all your heart. ⁷Work with enthusiasm, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.

 

Rom. 12:11 (New Living Translation) Never be lazy in your work, but serve the Lord enthusiastically.

 

Our salvation gives us every reason to be enthusiastic!

 

What we have now and what is awaiting us gives us every reason to be enthusiastic about life and living for Jesus Christ!

 

Ÿ       We’ve been saved!

Ÿ       We’ve been redeemed!

Ÿ       We’ve been lifted out of the miry clay!

Ÿ       We are seated in heavenly places in Christ Jesus!

Ÿ       Our names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life!

Ÿ       We have heaven as our eternal home!

Ÿ       We have all the promises of God!

Ÿ       Jesus has given us purpose and joy!

Ÿ       All things are working together for the child of God!

Ÿ       We have nothing to loose and everything to gain!