www.nextwaveonline.com
Daily Recharge
Mal Fletcher
Living With Enthusiasm
19 April 2024
Zephaniah 3:17 'The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.' (NIV)
Have you ever met a 'mega-spiro'? They're the ones who come to church carrying huge King James Family Bibles. They're always quoting scriptures they don't understand, just to demonstrate their superior brand of spirituality. They claim to have real joy, 'deep joy'. The problem is that their joy's so deep you can't find it! They look like they've been baptized in lemon juice. I have a feeling that God enjoys their company about as much as I do. After all, God invented enthusiasm. In Genesis, God was thrilled by what he'd made (Gen. 1:31). There are many verses that talk about God being interested in and enthusiastic about his creation - especially humankind. This verse in Zephaniah, in the literal Hebrew rendition, tells us that God wants to 'jump for joy, skip, leap and spin around' us. David knew how to express his faith and his love for God. In praise, he whirled about so much that his wife accused him of going too far (2 Sam. 6:20). Interestingly, he was wearing the linen ephod of a priest when he did this, which shows us that enthusiasm is not irreverent or distasteful to God. It's part of our priestly ministry. God isn't looking for exhibitionism, or weird behaviour that simply makes us look like oddities and turns people away from him. What he does want, are people who are not ashamed to express their passion and enthusiasm for him. That enthusiasm is a God-given gift and one worth putting on display, because it reflects what he is like.
Prayer: Father, I want to learn to live with enthusiasm. I want to live as if you really are excited about me and my life. I want to praise you before other people without reservation or inhibition.'
© Mal Fletcher 2003-2004
www.nextwaveonline.com