Romans 12:11 - BE ON FIRE FOR THE LORD!
Romans 12:11 (NIV) Never be lacking in zeal,
but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the
Lord.
Romans 12:11 (AMP) Never lag in zeal and in
earnest endeavor; be aglow and burning with the
Spirit, serving the Lord.
Romans 12:11 (CWR) Don't be lazy; do your
work enthusiastically, just as if you were
working for the Lord Himself.
INTRODUCTION
An alternative translation is be set on
fire by the Spirit. [NIV SB 2015]
Work hard and serve the Lord
enthusiastically or serve the Lord with a zealous spirit; or
let the Spirit excite you as you serve the Lord
[NLT SB 2008]
WORD STUDY
Fervent. Literally, to boil. The
zealous Christian will always keep his interest in
the cause of God at the boiling point, as it
were. His fervor will give him power with men
(Acts 18:25, 28) and bring him power from God.
In spirit. This may be understood as
either the human spirit or the divine Spirit.
Perhaps Paul is speaking of the human spirit
inspired and energized by the Spirit of God.
Serving the Lord. Zeal and fervor arise
naturally in the heart of the believer who recognizes
that, in whatever sphere of labor he may be
serving, he is working as to the Lord, and not
unto men. [SDA Bible Commentary]
Whatever is worth doing in the Christian
life is valuable enough to be done with
enthusiasm and care. Sloth and indifference not only
prevent good, but allow evil to prosper.
Fervent in spirit. Lit. "to boil in
spirit." This phrase suggests having plenty of heat
to produce adequate, productive energy, but not
so much heat that one goes out of control.
[MacArthur SB]
As believers are serving the Lord, they
should never become lazy or lose their diligence.
Instead, their service should be enthusiastic. Paul
is not advocating activity for activity's sake.
Rather, we should consistently use our spiritual
gifts to serve the body. We have been called
(1:6-7), challenged (12:1-2), and equipped (12:4-6)
for serving the Lord. Fatigue may be part of the
cycle of service, but apathy (lack of zeal) should
not be part of a believer's life. Christians
must fight against discouragement, depression,
and negativeness; they must do their utmost to
keep their spiritual temperature high. [Life
Application Commentary]
COMMENTARY PEARL
How to Stay Enthusiastic for a Lifetime
In order to reach your goals, you have to
figure out how to maintain your enthusiasm over the
long haul.
Ralph Waldo Emerson said, Nothing
great was ever achieved without enthusiasm. I
believe that with all of my heart and have found it
to be true in my life. Youve got to have
passion and enthusiasm, or youre never going to
make it to the finish line.
Most people would consider me an
enthusiastic person - and I am. I havent been an
enthusiastic person for just a week or a month. My
enthusiasm has not waned after a year or five years or
10 years. I have been consistently enthusiastic
about the goals that Ive set for more than 30
years.
How do you do that? How do you stay
enthusiastic day after day in spite of delays,
difficulties, dead ends, problems, pressures, and
criticisms? How do you stay enthusiastic for more than
30 years?
Positive thinking is not enough. Pulling
yourself up by your psychological bootstraps is not
enough. Talking yourself into optimism is not
enough.
The way you stay enthusiastic for a
lifetime is found in the word enthusiasm, which
comes from the Greek word en theos. En is the
Greek word for in. Theos is the Greek word
for God. So en theos means to be in
God.
WHEN YOU GET IN GOD, YOU WILL BE
ENTHUSIASTIC. Its the kind of enthusiasm that isnt
affected by the economy or the weather or your
circumstances. Its eternal, because you are tied to the
eternal God. You are in Christ.
Paul tells you how to be in God -
enthusiastic - in Romans 12:11-12: Never be lacking in
zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the
Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction,
faithful in prayer (NIV).
If you want to reach your goals, you need
to get God-given enthusiasm by being joyful in
hope, patient in affliction, and faithful in
prayer.
Start by praying this prayer today:
Dear God, I dont want to go another day
without you in my life, controlling every part of my
heart. I dedicate myself to you. I offer myself as
a living sacrifice to you as a spiritual act
of worship.
I humbly admit that I need help. I
want you to renew my mind, so I can think the way
you want me to think - with the mind of Christ.
Please forgive me for my pride. I dont want to
think more highly of myself than I should. My
faith needs to grow, and I need your help to set
goals that can be measured so I can manage them.
Forgive me for trying to change on my own.
I want to fill my life with love. I
want to fill my life with you. Help me to take
delight in honoring other people and to focus on
giving my life away so that you can take care of my
needs. I want to nurture my enthusiasm by being in
you. Help me to be joyful in hope, patient in
affliction, and faithful in prayer. In Jesus name.
Amen. [Daily Devotional by Rick Warren:
https://pastorrick.com/devotional/]
COMMENTARY
When God opens the way for the
accomplishment of a certain work and gives assurance of
success, the chosen instrumentality must do all in
his power to bring about the promised result. In
proportion to the enthusiasm and perseverance with
which the work is carried forward will be the
success given. PK263
Should we give our lives up to prayerful
meditation, our lights would grow dim, for light is
given to us that we may impart it to others, and
the more we impart light, the brighter our own
light will become. If there is any one thing in
the world in which we may manifest enthusiasm,
it may be manifested in seeking the salvation
of the souls for whom Christ died. Work of this
kind will not cause us to neglect personal piety.
1SM139
Vigilance and Diligence to Be Blended - We
are to be vigilant, watching for the coming of
the Son of man; and we must also be diligent;
working as well as waiting is required; there must
be a union of the two. This will balance the
Christian character, making it well developed,
symmetrical. We should not feel that we are to neglect
everything else, and give ourselves up to meditation,
study, or prayer; neither are we to be full of
bustle and hurry and work, to the neglect of
personal piety. Waiting and watching and working are
to be blended. AH23
When we realize that we are working for God,
we shall have a higher sense than we have ever
had before of the sacredness of spiritual
service. This realization will put life and vigilance
and persevering energy into the discharge of
every duty. CM77
If a man has tact, industry, and enthusiasm,
he will make a success in temporal business,
and the same qualities, consecrated to the work
of God, will prove even doubly efficient; for
divine power will be combined with human effort.
5T275-6
In many hearts there seems to be scarcely a
breath of spiritual life. This makes me very sad. I
fear that aggressive warfare against the world,
the flesh, and the devil has not been
maintained. Shall we cheer on, by a half-dead
Christianity, the selfish, covetous spirit of the world,
sharing its ungodliness and smiling on its
falsehood? - Nay! By the grace of God let us be
steadfast to the principles of truth, holding firm to
the end the beginning of our confidence. 1SM127
There is but one remedy for indolence, and
that is to throw off sluggishness as a sin that
leads to perdition, and go to work using the
physical ability that God has given you for this
purpose. The only cure for a useless, inefficient
life is effort, determined, persevering effort.
The only cure for selfishness is to deny self,
and work earnestly to be the blessing that you
can be to your fellowmen. He that observeth
the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth
the clouds shall not reap. TM183-4
Let those who are naturally slow of
movement, seek to become active, quick, energetic,
remembering the words of the apostle, Not slothful in
business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord.
If you are under the control of slow, dilatory
movements, if your habits are of a lazy order, you will
make a long job out of a short one; and it is the
duty of those who are slow, to reform, and to
become more expeditious. If they will, they can
overcome their fussy, lingering habits. SD114
It is not a virtue for men or women to
excuse slow bungling at work of any character. The
slow habits must be overcome. The man who is
slow, and does his work at a disadvantage, is an
unprofitable workman. His slowness is a defect that needs
to be seen and corrected. He needs to exercise
his intellect in planning how to use his time so
as to secure the best results. When one is
forever at work, and the work is never done, it is
because mind and heart are not put into the work. It
takes some persons ten hours to do that which
another accomplishes readily in five. Such workmen
do not bring tact and method into their labor.
There is something to be learned every day as to
how to improve in the manner of labor so as to
get through the work, and have time for
something else. It is the duty of every worker not
merely to give his strength but his mind and
intellect to that which he undertakes to do. Some who
are engaged in domestic labor are always at
work; it is not because they have so much to do,
but they do not plan in such a way as to have
time. They should give themselves a certain time
to accomplish their task, and make every move
tell. Dullness and ignorance are no virtue. You
can choose to become stereotyped in a wrong
course of action because you have not the
determination to take yourselves in hand and to reform, or
you may cultivate your powers to do the very
best kind of service, and then you will find
yourselves in demand anywhere and everywhere. You will
be appreciated for all that you are worth.
Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy
might. Not slothful in business; fervent in
spirit; serving the Lord. FE316 [What if the
slowness is due to hypothyroidism, depression,
retardation, dementia, etc. one obviously needs to get
treatment to resolve the problem.]
ILLUSTRATION
Nutcracker Ballet
In recovery, we talk a lot about
relationships and the importance of rebuilding and
repairing the damage that we've done to ourselves and
those we love. In order to be devoted to one
another and honor one another above ourselves as the
Bible instructs, we must change the way we think
and operate. Often that means doing things that
aren't in our comfort zone. This can be tough, but
there is a bonus. Sometimes we find something
enjoyable that we never thought we would.
During the holidays, my wife and I
attended a production of The Nutcracker ballet. A
ballet? This is something I never thought I would
do. But my granddaughter was a cast member, and
that made all the difference. Instead of an event
that I would do just about anything to get out
of, it was transformed into an event that I
wouldn't miss for the world. In fact, it is one of my
most enjoyable family memories. And for our
granddaughter, our presence made her night complete.
These kinds of events are essential for
building meaningful relationships with those we love.
They show our devotion and that we are honoring
others above ourselves. Sure, it takes some effort
to get out of our comfort zone, but the rewards
are worth it.
Father, thank you for the uncomfortable
choices we make for others that become uncommon
blessings for our lives and theirs. In Jesus' name,
Amen. [Celebrate Recovery Daily Devotional by John
& Johnny Baker]
CLOSING THOUGHT
Has Your Get-Up-and-Go Got Up and Gone?
I have times when I get tired of doing
what I am doing. We all do. No matter what your
position is in life, there will be days when you will
not feel like doing it. You might even go
through a longer season in which you feel listless
and uninterested in almost everything. There may
be underlying reasons that you will need to
prayerfully search out, but often we just need to stir
ourselves up and get going again. We need to do it
purposely instead of waiting for a feeling to show up
and motivate us to action again.
Gratitude helps me do that. When I
recount all of my blessings, I am amazed at the
goodness of God in my life. It makes me thankful, and
that always stirs me up and makes life look
brighter. Having great expectations also energizes and
motivates me. We don't have to wait and see if
something good happens in our lives; we can
aggressively expect something good to happen. David
indicated that if he failed to believe he would see
the Lord's goodness, it would affect him in a
detrimental way. He said, "[What, what would have become
of me] had I not believed that I would see the
Lord's goodness..." (Psalm 27:13).
The third thing that energizes me is
getting my mind off how I feel and on something I
can do to be a blessing to someone else. When I
do, it works every time. Before long, I find
myself enthusiastic about life and excited to
resume my service to the Lord.
Father, I want to live life to the
fullest. I want to live with passion, zeal, and
appreciation for every opportunity that YOU give me. Help
me approach this day with enthusiasm and do
everything as unto You. [My Time with God by Joyce
Meyer]
LINK FOR FURTHER STUDY
Colossians 3:23 - ALIVE in CHRIST!!!
http://www.abible.com/devotions/2022/20220130-0934.html
YOUR COMMENTS
If anyone has a paraphrase, commentary or
testimony on this passage of Scripture, either
personal or otherwise, I would be interested in
hearing from you. Thanks in advance and let's keep
uplifting Jesus that all might be drawn to Him. Fred
Gibbs
