EXCITEMENT!

If you’ve been following this blog for any amount of time, then you’ve probably figured out that I enjoy researching things.  When the full extent of Piper’s condition became clear to us through the brain specialist we were seeing in San Francisco back in 2010, I immediately began to hit the books reading everything that I could get my hands… or eyes on, in the case of University Research papers online, in order to learn as much as I could about Alzheimer’s.  I wanted to know exactly what we were dealing with, what we needed to stand against and what we could do to improve her mental acuity.  And to be honest, I also wanted to be able to understand her doctor’s and be able to carry on an intellectual conversation with them! 

I have tended to be a “researcher” most of my adult life.  In our children’s and youth ministries, I sought out books and articles in various ministry publications in order to seek out and find techniques, programs and music that would be the best vehicle to make the Gospel exciting to those that we were privileged to minister to.  I can’t even count all the various conferences Piper and I attended over the years with the same goal in mind!

I did a lot of research concerning all the aspects of the different states and cities that we lived in over the years as well.  I love to read about the history of the new places we visit or live, for it makes me feel more connected to the area.  Likewise, I also like to find out the “history” or background of the various Bible translations that I read.  It helps me to be more in tune to the intent of the translators as I read the way certain scriptures are spelled out.

As I read the background information on the author of The Message Bible last week, I realized that Pastor Eugene Peterson’s intent was to make the Bible not only more understandable to his congregation, but maybe more importantly, to make it exciting to them.  To hopefully stir up enough excitement and expectation in his congregation that they would be challenged to interweave the teachings of Christ into their daily lives.  And as I have begun reading through the book of Romans in The Message, I can easily see that excitement painted into almost every sentence in the book!

I’ve picked up bits and pieces of that excitement in other traditional translations that I’ve read over the years, especially with the excitement that the Apostle Paul must have felt concerning his understanding of the Gospel message.  His trademark use of double or triple adjectives in explaining certain characteristics of God to his readers is well known and loved.  It stirs me up to read about “the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe” (Ephesians 1:19 KJV), or of the “exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.” (Ephesians 2:7 KJV), or of the “exceedingly abundantly above and beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us” (Ephesians 3:19 NKJV),

I think the scripture translation that sent me over the moon with excitement over the Good News of the Gospel working in and through me was from Romans 8:15 in The Message Bible which declares: “This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It's adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike "What's next, Papa?"  That’s the excitement that I want brimming over from my life… Don’t you?

One of the hardest things for me to personally deal with during Piper’s ordeal was having to interact with those who had already given up on her… and in reality (I believe), had given up on God!  Instead of encouraging us with a faith-driven life that says “I’m adventurously expectant” of God working a miracle in Piper’s life, we witnessed a pretty good example of what Paul described as “a timid, grave-tending life.”  And God eventually made it clear to me that it wasn’t healthy for Piper to be around the “grave-tenders” in her desperate time of need... What she needed was life-givers!

I’ve learned through these kinds of experiences, that I want my life to extrude an excitement for God that attaches itself to those around me… to the point that they walk away from me with a new excitement for the things of God in their lives… how about you?

Get excited by getting into God’s Word… then allow it to leak out onto others!

Have a great new week, and as you do, say with me… “I am expecting to have my excitement for the things of God rubbing off on others today!”