I'm Excited!

On Sunday, Pastor John encouraged the congregation to stir up their passion for Jesus during the upcoming week. He expounded on the many ways an individual can do this as well as the important reasons for it.

Mark 12:30 says:

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.

Service to our Lord should consume our every waking moment and our thought - no matter the positions or conditions of our lives. Numerous examples of this principle are found all throughout scripture: Paul in the Philippian jail, Stephen before the Sanhedrin, the Apostles after their scourging in the book of Acts are just a few examples of the disciples of Christ exhibiting their excitement for the opportunity to serve and suffer for their Lord and King.   

In the above video, Tim Tebow stated that he was "excited" about being a New York Jet or playing with the Jets 45 times during his 33 minute press conference on March 26th of this year! Although his comments were quite redundant after a couple of minutes, I think we get the message that Tebow was "excited" to be a Jet. His press conference quickly became a YouTube classic because of his continued and countless insistence on being excited!

The opposite of excitement is boredom and complacency. The attitude of "been there and done that" creates in us all a very destructive mind set and escaping its powerful grip can be almost impossible.

Amos 6:1 says:

Woe to you who are complacent in Zion, and to you who feel secure on Mount Samaria!

When we begin to walk in boredom and complacency, our zeal for God and his service has burned out in some fashion and is in need of a vital igniting or recharge.

First Thessalonians 5:19 says:

Do not put out the Spirit's fire!

In the Old Testament, the priests were responsible for keeping the holy fire burning at the altar of sacrifice continuously! 

Leviticus 6:13 states:

Remember, the fire must be kept burning on the altar at all times. It must never go out!

To allow this fire to burn out would have been an act of negligence of the highest order and heads would literally roll over the improper oversight and administration of the holy fire. The priests were responsible for cutting the wood for the fire, carrying the wood to the temple mount altar, drying the wood for proper use, and then feeding the fire on a continual basis during their assigned duties.   

A couple of weeks ago, Roger and Beth Andrzyczak brought me a Tim Horton's coffee for my birthday. On top of the coffee, they placed a lit candle as they presented me with the "drink offering"! I thanked them profusely for their generous gift and blew the candle out. Immediately, I began talking to other people and was going to take the candle off the coffee, throw it away in the trash, and drink the coffee. It was a good thing that I did not follow that procedure because the candle relit! I thought that I hadn't blown the flame out properly, so I blew it out a second time. Once again, I became occupied with talking and laughing, not noticing the candle on my coffee relit a second time! When I noticed the relit candle, I realized that it was a trick candle and that Roger and Beth "got one over on me"! May God's mercy be upon them because mine won't!

I relate this humorous prank story because like that candle, our excitement or passion for Christ should never go out. When circumstances, pressures, or sin try to extinguish the flame of the Spirit, it is our holy responsibility to make sure the fire stays lit! Let us fan the flame of holy passion and excitement each and every moment as we strive to advance the kingdom in our lives as well as others.

   

Stay Holy, My Friends!

Pastor Don