Lent Day 13: Bubbling

Lent Day 13: Bubbling

It’s Monday morning and to top it off it’s Monday morning after the time change. To say the least, I’m not feeling very bubbly. I have been accused of having an effervescent personality, which sometimes (like on Monday mornings) is described as annoying.

Enthusiasm and eagerness should be words that describe us all as believers. According to Paul, “He (Jesus) gave himself for us to set us free from every wrong and to cleanse us so that we could be his special people who are enthusiastic about doing good deeds (Titus 2:14, ISV).

There are certain words that I have discovered over the years that have impacted my faith and practice as a Christian. This word for enthusiastic or zealous is one of them. It’s a word that conjures up the image of frothing over. One of the first pictures that comes to mind is the classic volcano science experiment many of us did as kids where adding the right ingredient at the right time in the right quantity results in an erupting volcano.

The ingredient that makes all the difference for us as believers is Jesus. He embodies everything we need and once we take him in we experience a cleansing, a bubbling up that results in a bubbling over of eagerness and enthusiasm to serve him.

Now when I think about being enthusiastic and eager I don’t think about waiting to be asked. Enthusiastic believers look for and anticipate ways to serve, to do good things for the Kingdom. A few weeks ago one of my church’s staff members was inviting people to fill out a survey to identify ways they were interested in serving through the Church. She kept describing it as a pool of volunteers. In my mind, I had this image of the community pool in summer. Remember how we had to get out every now and then and rest? We would be watching the clock and counting down, eagerly anticipating getting back in the pool. That eagerness should be what we feel as we think about serving: we just can’t hardly wait!

It’s still Monday, and I’m still a bit tired, but I’m also excited! This new day holds all kinds of possibilities for service, some I’m aware of and planning for already. But there will be others that just present themselves to me. Tired or not, here comes the bubbling!

Do you remember the old Sunday School/Camp song: Jesus love is a bubblin’ over….babababubblin’…babababubblin’…..