A fixed gaze

He found Philip and said to him, “Come, follow me.” Philip went to look for Nathanael and told him, “We have found the very person Moses and the prophets wrote about! His name is Jesus, the son of Joseph from Nazareth.” “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” “Come and see for yourself,” Philip replied. (John 1:43, 46)

One of the most amazing things we see in the life of Philip is this immediate transition from being just one to 'follow' Jesus, to being one who went out and invited others to follow, as well. He immediately went to his friends and acquaintances - telling them about the one he had met, what he was teaching, and just how much they needed to come 'see for themselves'. In other words, he got excited about his purpose!

Too many times we see believers start the journey with such excitement and enthusiasm, but in short order it seems the very thing that 'excited' and 'energized' them so much isn't there any longer. How does that happen? I think it is likely a variety of reasons, but one thing is for sure - God's intent for us is to remain enthusiastic, spirited, and constantly willing to share Christ with others.

Are we all able to learn at the same pace? No, we all learn at our own pace. Christ had those among his followers who saw or heard something and immediately believed it as truth, something they could see done in and through them. He also had those who were a little more 'stand-offish', who needed more 'proof', or simply took a bit longer to 'saturate in the truth' before it really affected their lives. The same is true of all of us - some 'get it' quicker than others, while others 'saturate in it' a bit longer until it finally 'grabs them' and 'takes hold'.

All Jesus ever asked of his disciples is that they be in step with him. That may not seem like a big deal at first, but if you have ever tried to walk in 'lock step' with another for a very long time, you know you can get a bit distracted by what is around you, losing that 'lock step' quite easily. As we learned to march in the military, they told us 'eyes forward' - in other words, fix our gaze on the leader, don't lose sight of him and keep step with the cadence set. 

All Jesus asks is for us to keep step with the cadence he desires for us - the one he sets for us as we step out in faith 'with him'. It could be we don't feel as 'energized' and 'enthusiastic' about our walk with Jesus as we once did, but perhaps a fixing of our gaze on our 'leader' once again, while listening carefully to the cadence he sets, will bring us back to the place where we are brimming over with excitement to 'go and tell', 'making disciples of many', and 'bringing hope to the hopeless'. Just sayin!

Enthusiastic?

Enthusiasm without knowledge is not good; impatience will get you into trouble. Some people ruin themselves by their own stupid actions and then blame the Lord. Do yourself a favor and learn all you can; then remember what you learn, and you will prosper. (Proverbs 18:2-3, 8)

Zeal without knowledge may just lead to you and I acting a little too quickly on occasion. Act too quickly and we may just charge ahead when it would have been wiser to stay behind. Zeal is the energy we put into the pursuit of anything or anyone. Too much can get in the way because it messes with God's timing. Too little can get be just as difficult to manage because it makes it difficult to be in the right place at the right time with the right resources in hand. Whenever we move into areas where we do not have personal experience (first-hand knowledge), we might do so with great enthusiasm, but what happens when our movements are just 'enthusiastic'? We don't do very well. 

Knowledge is designed to be shared, but until it becomes personal, it is of very little value to the one exposed to it. If you build Legos for a living and make all those instruction books included in the box of building blocks, you likely have first-hand experience with those designs. Until we follow the specific diagrams and examples given, we don't have either. We can only envision what our pile of blocks will look like, but if we plunge ahead without following those instructions to the letter, the instructions were just paper in the box. They were included in full color and nicely organized for our understanding - our impatience to get from a pile of blocks to a finished airplane did not produce an airplane even remotely resembling what the designer had in mind. We need to apply the knowledge we are provided.

We move into territory all the time where we have very little personal knowledge - creating many an opportunity for us to be exposed to things we'd never imagined possible in the journey. Moving without knowledge might be considered faith to some, but even faith is based on some truth. We have an element of knowledge we hang our hats on and then take the first steps forward. Beware - any steps taken without applying even the minimal knowledge we have been given may just lead to a whole lot more "exposure" than we'd like. God wants us to have passion in our pursuit of right living, but he also wants us to exercise wisdom in that pursuit.

To wrestle with an unfamiliar enemy without any knowledge of that enemy would spell disaster for anyone attempting to do so. People ruin their lives, not so much because they intend to, but because they come up against all kinds of unfamiliar enemies and have no idea how to deal with them. We might call this foolishness in action, but in reality, we have all been there. What is unfortunate is when we blame God for our failure in these battles instead of seeing the folly in our having plunged ahead without any knowledge for the battle ahead. Truth is, we are often given at least one or more warnings before heading into these battles - we just don't pay attention to them. If we'd learn to listen to the warning(s), we might just avoid the missteps. Just sayin!

It isn't HIS fault!

When I buy something new, especially some kind of electronic device, or little gadget designed to make my life easier, I usually am pretty excited by it.  I think it will meet whatever need I have and am eager to put it into use in my home, work life, etc.  Have you ever stopped to consider just how short of a time span it really takes for the excitement to wear off?  In my youth, I would have just rushed into decisions, not really considering what I was doing, much less the "why" behind those actions.  As I have grown up a little (and heaven knows I am still "growing up"), I have come to the conclusion rapid decisions and impulsive actions actually have a cost to them I may not want to actually pay.  Excitement fades - reality sets in and it around for a long, long time!

Being excited about something is not enough. You must also know what you are doing. Don’t rush into something, or you might do it wrong. People ruin their lives with the foolish things they do, and then they blame the Lord for it. (Proverbs 19:2-3 ERV)

There is much truth in the scriptural reminder to us that being excited about something (or someone) is not enough - we must also know what we are doing! This is where we get the phrase, "fools rush in".  We indeed do stand a pretty reasonable chance of bringing ruin into our lives, if not ruining our lives, when we choose to be foolish in our timing, intent, or planning.  We need all three to be under the guidance and leadership of the Lord in our lives - timing is best when it is on his schedule; intent is better refined when it is filtered through his mind; and planning is best when it is under his watchful eye.

We always want what someone else has, wish we could have gone where someone else has gone, or yearn for the accomplishments another has achieved.  We can live our whole life wanting, wishing, and yearning, but when we do, we miss out on all the living God intends for us in the "right now"!  We can live too impetuously and make foolish decisions, or live too cautiously and miss out on all God intends for us.  Either way, we are not living as full of a life as God would desire for us - we need the balance of both.

Excitement without knowledge is just not productive, is it?  I have been excited about a lot of things which have come down the road in my lifetime, but I can also assure you the excitement did not produce any real commitment from me to actually take what was coming and put it into good use in my life.  Why? Enthusiasm is easily deterred by difficulty, laziness, and just plain dawning of common sense!  Sometimes I didn't even need God to tell me I bit off more than I could chew - my own common sense began to kick in and I realized I was into something I should have avoided in the first place!

I don't mean to knock my employer, but I have seen a lot of things come and go over the years - returning again in a different format, called a different thing, spruced up a different way.  It wasn't entirely productive the first time around, but the concepts were good.  They just didn't produce the desired results - the culture didn't change as they hoped.  All the planning didn't produce the results. Why?  People need more than good theory to produce something - they need the desire, passion, and commitment of heart, as well.  We can offer all kinds of good theory, but it remains theory until the resources are put into it which actually turn it into reality.

In our walks with Christ, we can put all kind of thought into things we'd like to see differently, but until we take what is merely "theory" to us and begin to put it into action in our lives, it will remain an untapped resource!  We can rush in without enough forethought to actually "cement" the theory into something we can put into practice within our lives, then wonder why it didn't "take". We can also reject stuff which could save us a lot of lost time and unnecessary worry - just because we don't want to make the effort.  Either way, we end up almost accusing God for our lack of growth.  How foolish is that?  Just sayin!

Energy and Enthusiasm - got any?

Enthusiasm and Energy - two character traits which often define the progress we make in life.  Lack enthusiasm or energy and any task you take on will seem like a drudgery, weighing you down with its burden.  Sometimes we possess energy, but lack enthusiasm.  When we do, we have all the "burn" we need for the long-haul, but we just don't have the "umph" behind it to make the "haul" enjoyable.  We can also have all the enthusiasm in the world, but lack the energy because it has been sucked out of us by all the other stuff we also have "enthusiasm" for in life!  These two work hand-in-hand, as do many of our other "character traits" we have explored over the past several days.  Today's list is our "E" List - Enthusiasm and Energy.

I readily admit that the Jews are impressively energetic regarding God—but they are doing everything exactly backward. They don’t seem to realize that this comprehensive setting-things-right that is salvation is God’s business, and a most flourishing business it is. Right across the street they set up their own salvation shops and noisily hawk their wares. After all these years of refusing to really deal with God on his terms, insisting instead on making their own deals, they have nothing to show for it.  (Romans 10:2-3 MSG)

Paul writes to the Roman church, Jewish believers struggling with their faith.  Why?  They have all kinds of enthusiasm and energy - he said they are "impressively energetic" regarding God.  They are also commended for their "flourishing business" of trying to live as they should.  So, why is it he zeros in on their enthusiasm?  It is misdirected!  They have come to count on the energies they exert and their enthusiastic following of the rules as their means of "getting things done" with God!  

Enthusiasm is a "controlling" or "consuming" possession of our minds by any interest - and where the mind goes, there goes the heart!  So, enthusiasm is not always a good thing when it is misdirected!  We can be enthusiastic (consumed and controlled) by the "stuff" which will really get us nowhere in life!  To help us understand enthusiasm, we might want to know what the exact opposite is - indifference.  So, enthusiasm is a very good thing - but we need to make sure it is based in something of value - making the expenditure of our energies worthwhile.

Energy is really the capacity for activity.  As I have said, we can be very enthusiastic, but have absolutely no remaining capacity for activity!  Why?  Perhaps it is because we have allowed to many "leeches" in life to drain us of our energies!  What "leeches" energy from your life?  It could be those "tasks" you have taken on which others asked you to perform, but which make absolutely no sense for you to be doing.  It could be those relationships which seem to do nothing more than drain you of all things good (we call them "high maintenance" relationships).  Sometimes we have to "empty" ourselves in order to have more "capacity".

Back in the day when nickle-cadmium batteries first came out on the market, many of us made the mistake of keeping those devices plugged into the charger almost all the time when the device was not in use.  At that time, we probably thought we were actually doing the right thing - so we'd have the device "at the ready" when we needed it.  What we learned over time was in order for the device to function as it should, it had to be pretty well drained of capacity in order to "take a full charge".  I wonder if this might just be true in our spiritual lives?  Do we need to "learn" how to take a full-charge in the correct manner?  Do we need to "drain" ourselves of all which "takes up room" and makes us "appear" to "carry a charge", then be refilled to capacity with what really "gives us a charge"?  

Control determines what consumes - give a video game to the child and see how long the batteries last!  They "get into" the game and before long, the device is drained of energy.  Now, if you hook that same game up to an AC adapter, what happens?  They can play on and on!  Hmmm...perhaps we need to figure out where our "source" of charge comes in life!  If we are always needing a "recharge" because we run down quickly, it may because something "consumes" our capacity way too quickly.  Or perhaps we are only carrying half a charge in the first place because we have never fully "drained ourselves" of the things which get in the way of us having "full capacity"!  Just sayin!