S) "8 Peter *said to Him, 'Never shall You wash my feet!' Jesus answered him, 'If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.' 9 Simon Peter *said to Him, 'Lord, then wash not only my feet, but also my hands and my head.' 10 Jesus *said to him, 'He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you.'"
John 13:8-10 (NASB)
*Original Greek used present tense to convey stronger emphasis
*Original Greek used present tense to convey stronger emphasis
O) Simon Peter (S.P. for short =] ) has incredible zeal! He is mentioned in all of the Gospels and Acts as the front-man of the 12, Jesus even names him the rock on whom the rest of the church will be built. One thing that is always there, and it's on full display here, is that zeal. So many Christians get saved, give their life over to God and in the middle of that dramatic turn from despair to hope, they gain this same, amazing zeal! But what happens? Almost invariably, it fades. It's noteworthy that S.P. has been with Jesus about 3 years, to this point, but his zeal hasn't ebbed at all.
A) I can remember when I first gave my life to God. I was riding the bus as a freshman in H.S. and I'd sit in the first row and with each kid that got on and off the bus, I'd tell them, "Jesus loves you!" In hindsight, I don't think this was the best application of my faith, but my zeal was uncontainable! At the time I was a little aimless, I had no one to guide me, to harness my zeal toward something effective. When I recommitted my life to God as a husband and father, I had a refreshed zeal to know the Lord with more maturity and intimacy. I was excited to see what the He had in store for me and my family. I was excited to get to work in some kind of ministry. Kristin and I started by taking over the 1st service nursery in our church (a blessing to all the staffers who were parents). Now that we've served God in a few forms of ministry, for a handful of years, we've become more like veterans in our war, fighting the enemy from a few different arenas, on a few different fronts. I wouldn't say I'm disillusioned, exactly, but it's admittedly hard to get excited to work sometimes. It's easy to overlook what, exactly, is happening when I show up on Sunday to teach, or drum, or whatever-they-need that I'm doing. I need to get excited about every interaction I have with God! If I'm drumming, I need to remember my audience of one is The One! If I'm teaching, I need to remember that I am imparting a very real, living, piece of the Almighty when I share an aspect of anything from the very living Word. The Bible says do everything as unto the Lord (Colossians 3:23) and I need to get excited about every interaction just as S.P. did. I think it's much better to have God tell me to calm down, than for Him to wish for me to be more excited.
P) Father, refresh my zeal for You! I want to be excited about every exchange we have. In every way that I work for You, help me to truly realize what's happening on a spiritual level. Holy Spirit, open my eyes to the wonder that is our relationship. Help me go all-in with every aspect of my life in You, God. Help me be aware of when or how You want me to scale it back, but let me error on the side of super-excited and over-the-top for Your glory. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment