Get a Fire Extinguisher

Most of us have some form of enthusiasm in our lives. But have you ever really, really, really been excited about something? Maybe it was a game you were watching. You’ve seen the commercials. Guys are watching a game and they all jump up off the couch at the same time cheering and screaming. We assume that a goal was scored. Then they belly bounce off of each other and the one guy starts smelling the shirt of the other guy. - you had to be there I guess. That’s excitement.
Or how about the lady taking possession of a new car. Forget the salespersons demonstration - lets get going. New mothers have a subdued excitement at the birth of their child. After carrying this child for nine months, three day, eleven hours, you can see the excitement in their eyes as they look into this precious face for the first time.
We also get excited about going on vacation. The car is packed, everyone has made one last trip to the bathroom and you are one block from home. If it wasn’t for seatbelts, those to munchkins in the back seat would be bouncing off the ceiling. Then, a small voice comes from the back seat, “Are we there yet?”
Okay, now it’s your turn. What excites you? What are you enthusiastic about? Most of you have already thought of what would get you excited. Really excited. Ralph Waldo Emerson once said; “Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.” The things that excite us are as varied as we are. Some get excited about the small things while others have grandiose expectations. No matter, there is always something that will set each of us off and we like to see it happen more then once. More then once a week would be good.
I wonder how many of us get excited about going to Church? Of coming into the sanctuary of God and worshiping Him. Of joining with each other in prayer and song, as we close our eyes and look full into the face of God. Emerson also wrote; “Everywhere the history of religion betrays a tendency to enthusiasm.” A few times in my career I have preached on that word, Enthusiasm. It is a Greek word that breaks down into a few parts. En Theos, which literally means, Excitement in God. In the dictionary it tells us that it originally meant inspiration or possession by a divine afflatus or by the presence of a god.
Just read something a few minutes ago that went something like this; the best place to have a fire extinguisher is in the church because we need to be on fire for Him. Maybe that is what we are missing in many of our churches. This Sunday, show up excited and look for the nearest fire extinguisher.
Something to think about.
Robin

Something Bigger Then You and I

The calendar tells me Lent is over. We have gone through Good Friday, which I just learned used to be called God’s Friday. Then we woke early on Easter Morning and found that Jesus was still here. He is alive. Not was, but is. The most important celebration of the Christian calendar is over. Holy Week has passed so they tell us we can take up what you gave up. Or should we? I just read that Easter Eggs were a creation of the church way back in five hundred something. As a symbol of new life, the Pope at that time had everyone give up eggs for Lent. Then you could have the treat of an egg on Easter morning. Our forty days have ended and we now ask ourselves, how’d I do? It could have been forty days of examination. But let’s forget about giving up something for Lent. It’s over and to do it for two or three more days really doesn’t count any more. Or does it? We did try didn’t we. We did. We really did try to . . . well, I did!
Or did I? If I tried to accomplish the giving up and removing something of a negative nature . . . I wonder if that really works. Years ago I was told that if you do something for 21 days, it becomes a habit. Well the opposite should also apply, shouldn’t it? Now just follow this thought along with me. If we add something of a positive nature to our lives, isn’t that a giving up? We are giving up something to a positive habit? I mentioned this before. Start doing something good and by it’s very nature it’s . . .
Then ask yourself, why do we do this in the first place? Is it so we can say, Hey, listen up, I did it? How many of you have, in your own strength given something up? Like cigarettes, or chocolate, or any number of things. Was it easy? Did you stick to it or did you ask for help? Or did you fail? Any diet program encourages us to have someone to cheer us on. Years ago, I wrote to a wonderful young lady some words of encouragement. I wrote what I really felt and I knew she would know the words were true. I said, “No matter what you do in life, you have the ability to accomplish anything you put your mind to. And as you do, and as you race through life, look over to the stands. There you will find me there, smiling and cheering you on. Don’t stop, keep going.”
What does it take to move forward? To carry on with the thoughts and changes of Lent? I believe it takes more then cheer leaders, or coaches or even incentives. It takes placing our hand into someone’s hand and going on. Sometimes, like the daily walk through Lent, I might lose my focus and dwell on other things. It is then that we need to take hold of His hand once more. Our journey through life will not always be easy. And yet it can be easier when we cease running alone. Then and only then will we find ourselves running in the footsteps of someone bigger then you or I.
He lights the way when the road is long
He keeps you company
And with His love to guide you
He walks beside you
Just like He walks with me
Somebody bigger then you and I
Something to think about
Robin