Dear Friends,
How enthusiastic a person are you?
The answer to this question may very well reveal your success in life.
In coaching I quickly discovered that you could determine a lot
about the future success of a player by the enthusiasm he showed in practice,
for enthusiasm can be a pretty good predictor of a player’s success.
The famous Cincinnati Red’s Hall of Famer, Pete Rose was once
asked, “Which is the first thing to go for a player, his eyes, his legs, or his
arm?” Rose responded, “None of these. The first thing to go is enthusiasm, and
when this goes that person is through as a baseball player.”
If you are as unenthusiastic about what you do as the young man
who took my order the other day at an unnamed restaurant drive through, it
won’t be long before you are looking for new employment. I told my wife, I
couldn’t tell if he was asleep or just pretending to be. It’s only a matter of
time before his boss comes through the drive through, orders fries and a
chicken sandwich, and before he picks them up, he gets out of the car to
tell his employee to start looking for a new employment.
When George Whitefield, the famous Scottish preacher of
'yesteryear', was getting the people of Edinburgh out of their beds at 5
o’clock in the morning to hear his preaching, there was a man on his way to the
tabernacle who met the famous atheistic philosopher David Hume. The man was surprised
to discover that Hume was also on his way to the Tabernacle to hear Whitefield.
He turned to Hume and said, “I thought you didn't believe in the gospel.” Hume
replied, “I don’t but he does.”
When we are passionate and excited about something, people take
interest. They want to know the source of our enthusiasm. There is nothing
quite as boring to me -and this is my true confession- as a pastor in the
pulpit who lacks enthusiasm communicating what he believes. It is just plain
hard for me to listen to such as person.
Enthusiasm comes from two words, “en” which means in, and “theos”
which means God. To be in God is to be enthusiastic. To know that He lives and
dwells within you, and that He holds your life together, and that He directs
your paths and guides your steps-that is a reason to be enthusiastic.
Paul writes to the Roman Church warning them, and us as well:
“Never be lazy in your work, but serve the Lord enthusiastically” (Romans
12:11, Living Bible Translation).
Whether in the church, at school, in the office, on the playing
field, or even behind the drive through window, we need to be enthusiastic
about what we are doing.
As followers of Jesus, we ought to be carriers of contagious
enthusiasm. We ought to be so infected that when others come in contact with us,
they get infected too. And if they don't then maybe it time to check our
spiritual heartbeat and find out why.
Today act like you are enthusiastic, even if you don't feel
enthusiastic, for it is easier to act yourself into a new way of feeling,
than to feel your way into a new set of actions.
And when you do, don’t forget to put a smile on our face, and walk
with a lilt, for the living Lord Jesus resides in the throne room of your
heart.
Yahoo!
Yours enthusiastically,
Tom
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