“I pray that you… grasp… the love of Christ, and know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” Ephesians 3:19

Geese do it! So do cars and trucks. Especially when prompted! I’m talking about honking here! And when it comes to prompting a honk, especially from a big semi-truck, our church has got the best dog-gone honk prompter this side of Heaven. One might even say he’s so full of enthusiasm for God… he bubbles over!

Enthusiasm is a word that describes a strong excitement of feeling, inspiring zeal or fervor. It is a word best experienced than explained. When enthusiasm is present, trying to describe it would be an undersell. It comes from the Latin words, ‘en’ (in) and ‘theos’ (God) and actually means ‘God within.’ If Church were a car dealership, ‘enthusiasm’ would be the balloons and banners on a ‘Big Sale’ day!

As far as I know, there is no real measuring tool for enthusiasm. And while this Bible verse recommends that we all be ‘filled’ with it, ‘IT’ is one of the few things that you just know when you see. But ‘it’ really isn’t a word that stands on it’s own. There has to be an object that sets the emotion off. And strangely, the object itself doesn’t even need to be valuable. It could be a sports team, a child walking for the first time, or the winning of a free manicure!

Now I am not a big sports fan, and baseball holds no personal enthusiastic appeal whatsoever. Winning a pair of tickets to a World Series wouldn’t even get a ‘yeah’ out of me. But that isn’t BAD…it’s just a personal choice. The wonderful thing about God is that ‘any’ and ‘every’ one CAN benefit and be filled with His fullness! And God’s fullness CAN be addictive!

A couple times a week, our Church stands out on a busy corner and holds ‘Jesus’ signs. There is one sign that I keep separate for Vic. It says, ‘HONK IF YOU LOVE JESUS.’ From the picture, it is easy to tell why I insist that he hold it. Because, and I have seen this many times myself, even a grumpy ol truck driver, when faced with Vic and his sign, can’t resist a ‘HONK!’ This week his wife Wanda showed up to help, and SHE didn’t let Jesus down either!

I’ve used this favorite Bible verse before because of its mystery and appeal. It just blows my heart and mind to read that I can PERSONALLY know God, and His Love for me, because of His son Jesus Christ. AND that He WANTS me to be filled with Him. Because when I am…it SHOWS!

What are YOU filled with?