The Energizer Bunny And Faithfulness

Are you an Energizer or an Agonizer?

You can’t be part of one and part of the other. You’re one or the other.

Would you rather go to a birthday party or a pity party?

It’s usually fun to be around folks at a birthday party. They usually create a festive, celebratory mood.

On the other hand, no one wants to go to a pity party or be around someone who’s having one.

God energizes us for a greater purpose — His. Energizing people are those who live life to the fullest, maximizing the opportunities God gives them. Energizing people find themselves at the core of faithfulness. They are full of love and encouragement for others. They are positive. They smile. And they impact those around them in positive ways.

Paul had encouragement for theThessalonian church, whose members were already energized. ” . . .may the Lord cause you to increase and abound in love for one another, and for all people, just as we also for you.”Thessalonians 3:12. “Keep on, Thessalonians,” Paul was saying. The members of the Thessalonian church were energizer bunnies. Paul was encouraging them to “keep going and going and going.” He wants us to live life to the fullest, maximizing the opportunities He grants us.

We can all remember times when we left a battery-operated device on too long and ran down the batteries. No more energy. We’re just like that. We get run down too. Especially if we:

” lack commitment — It’s hard to be energetic about something you’re not interested in or committed to. My wife is not committed to watching football on TV. She’s not committed to it. Ergo she has very little energy to expend on it.

” live a life of disobedience –All of life hinges on two choices 1) obey; or 2) disobey. When we choose to disobey our disobedience may bring us temporary pleasure, but eventually it saps our energy.

” live an irresponsible life — If we’re not willing to live out of our responsibility to love others, (as Paul talks about to the church at Thessalonica), if we’re not willing to take responsibility for our own actions, if we’re not willing to look at ourselves, our lack of responsibility will sap our energy as well. By the way, have you ever considered how much more energy it takes to pass the buck than it does to own it? Think for a minute about the truly successful people you’ve known in your life. Or successful people in the business world. Aren’t they all responsible people?

God calls us to live as Committed, Obedient, Responsible and Energizing believers.

Energy to live God’s will for us comes from living it out by standing firm in our faith and by being commited to love others. Energy comes when we pray without ceasing. Paul tells the Thessalonians, “as we night and day keep praying most earnestly that we may see our face, and may complete what is lacking in your faith.” V3:10. Energy comes when we choose faithfulness.

Another source of energy comes from learning to love. “Now as to the love of the brethren,” Paul says, “you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another. For indeed you do practice it toward all the brethren (love others) …but we urge you, brethren to excel much more (love more, keep on going and going and going).” 1 Thessalonians :9-10. Loving others energizes us, it does not drain us. It’s like learning how to swim. The more we swim, the more we like it, the more we like it, the more energy we have to expend on it.

Loving others transforms our lives. Something wonderful happens to us when we learn to love. Love also opens the door to holiness.Jeremiah said, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” According to A. W. Toxer, “Certain things help us understand holiness. Loving kindness and hating iniquity,” he said, sets us apart as holy. Also, he said, we will remain holy if we do not allow the world to taint our true identity.

Another source of energy manifests itself when we never give up. We will find that burst of energy when we become willing to take instruction. If we’re not willing to seek the Lord when we face trials, we’ll eventually give up. We are bombarded each day by the world and its efforts to drain our energy. We must trust God and seek to remain in His presence when we’re under attack from the world. In Philippians 1:9 Paul encourages us, “that your love may abound still more and more in the real knowledge and all discernment.”

In other words, keep loving, keep seeking God and we’ll live extraordinary lives over and above our circumstances. We must also live under Jesus’ authority. Everyone is accountable to someone. As born from above believers, if we are accountable to Jesus and His authority over us, we will avoid the consequences of surrendering to the world. The best way to give up is to live outside the authority of Jesus.

We’ll live an energizing life if we also pursue a set apart life. Move away from sin and towards holiness. We all fall. We all make mistakes. We all sin. However, when we do we need to stand up, turn around and keep moving towards Jesus. It is a total waste of energy to beat up on ourselves when we fall. When we go 15 rounds, and we’re the only one in the ring, no one wins. All our energy evaporates and we lie beaten, bruised and defeated on the mat.

Live an energizing life above and beyond the ordinary in fellowship with Jesus. The energized life is at the core of our faithfulness.