"En Theos"

2nd Corinthians 9.2 NIV

“For I know your eagerness to help, and I have been boasting about it to the Macedonians, telling them that since last year you in Achaia were ready to give; and...

“...your enthusiasm has stirred most of them to action.”


It all starts with a little... 

ENTHUSIASM!


Definition:

enthusiasm (en-thoo'-ze-az'-em) [1] 1. Great excitement for or interest in a subject or cause. 2. A source or cause of great excitement or interest. 3. Archaic a. Ecstasy arising from supposed possession by a god. b. Religious fanaticism.

Etymology:

Late Latin enthusiasmus, from Greek enthousiasmos, from enthousiazein, to be inspired by a god, from entheos, possessed: en- (in) + theos (god), lit. “in God.”

Quotations:

“Enthusiasm is one of the most powerful engines of success. When you do a thing, do it with your might. Put your whole soul into it. Stamp it with your own personality. Be active, be energetic, be enthusiastic and faithful, and you will accomplish your object. Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 - 1882), Philosopher, essayist, and poet

“If you aren’t fired with enthusiasm, you will be fired with enthusiasm.”

Vince Lombardi (1913 – 1970, football coach of the Green Bay Packers and Washington Redskins)

“You will do foolish things, but do them with enthusiasm.”

Colette (1873 – 1954, Sidonie Gabrielle Collette, French novelist)

“Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm.”

Sir Winston Churchill (1874 – 1965, British politician)

“Think enthusiastically about everything; but especially about your job. If you do, you’ll put a touch of glory in your life. If you love your job with     enthusiasm, you’ll shake it to pieces. You'll love it into greatness.”

Norman Vincent Peale (1898 – 1993, clergyman and author)

“The ability to understand a question from all sides meant one was totally unfit for action. Fanatical enthusiasm was the mark of the real man.”

Thucydides (471 - 400 BC, Greek historian on the Athenian mood at the eve of Athen's decline)

“A mediocre idea that generates enthusiasm will go further than a great idea that inspires no one.”

Mary Kay Ash (1915 – 2001, cosmetics network marketing tycoon from Texas)

“Nobody grows old merely by living a number of years. We grow old by deserting our ideals. Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul.”

Samuel Ullman (1840-1924, poet, humanitarian, businessman from Alabama)

“If you can give your son or daughter only one gift, let it be enthusiasm.”

Bruce Barton (1886-1967, advertising executive, religious writer, US Congressman)

“For I know your eagerness to help, and I have been boasting about it to the Macedonians, telling them that since last year you in Achaia were ready to give; and your enthusiasm has stirred most of them to action.”

Paul of Tarsus (5-67, apostle and founder of the church in Corinth)

Conclusion:

Lord, I’m taking the plunge. Jumping head first in the river of God. I’m in! In God… en-theos… and by definition fully and whole-heartedly enthusiastic for the cause of Christ and the things you have called me to do. May my enthusiasm stir someone to action!

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[1] The American Heritage ® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition, 2000.

Smiling baby image: photographer unknown.