Infectious Exuberance
Delving into Francis Chan's book, Crazy Love, I was fired up by Publishers Weekly's comment…
"Chan writes with infectious exuberance, challenging Christians to take the Bible seriously."
That comment alone was life changing.
Am I living with infectious exuberance?
Ha, we are living with something bizarre. The other night at dinner a woman came up and offered to take a family group shot for us. Introducing ourselves, we came to realize she and her husband live in our cove. As we explained where we lived she responded, "Oh, you are those Bible people."
Well, we've been called a lot of things, but Bible People was a first!
This photo of our son and grandson is one of my favorites. It's speaks to the importance of parents guiding their children into the future. My prayer today is that this next generation will guide their children with an infectious exuberance which is pleasing to God.
This passage from Paul and Timothy in Philippians 1:3-11 sings of infectious exuberance!
Every time you cross my mind, I break out in exclamations of thanks to God. Each exclamation is a trigger to prayer. I find myself praying for you with a glad heart. I am so pleased that you have continued on in this with us, believing and proclaiming God's Message, from the day you heard it right up to the present. There has never been the slightest doubt in my mind that the God who started this great work in you would keep at it and bring it to a flourishing finish on the very day Christ Jesus appears.
It's not at all fanciful for me to think this way about you. My prayers and hopes have deep roots in reality. You have, after all, stuck with me all the way from the time I was thrown in jail, put on trial, and came out of it in one piece. All along you have experienced with me the most generous help from God. He knows how much I love and miss you these days. Sometimes I think I feel as strongly about you as Christ does!
So this is my prayer: that your love will flourish and that you will not only love much but well. Learn to love appropriately. You need to use your head and test your feelings so that your love is sincere and intelligent, not sentimental gush. Live a lover's life, circumspect and exemplary, a life Jesus will be proud of: bountiful in fruits from the soul, making Jesus Christ attractive to all, getting everyone invoked in the glory and praise of God.
