ENTHUSIASM

Enthusiasm has a way of being contagious. It spreads. There is good reason for this. The original root of the word enthusiasm carries the idea that God is inside you. No wonder it’s contagious. Jesus said, “… the Kingdom of God is within you”. So both the King and His Kingdom are “inside” us.

That’s the difference – inside and outside. That which is outwardly contagious can be generated by just about any exterior response and stimulus. Especially hype of various kinds. This is usually short lived and must constantly be propped up and regenerated by a bigger and better incitement. The interior contagion is an enthusiasm that generates from the heart, from the conscience, from the “inner man”. It has its source in being the “house” of an enthusiastic God. Where He, the living God is, there is enthusiasm.

His Kingdom is like Him. The Kingdom is enthusiastic. The Kingdom is ‘inside’ first, then ‘outside’. What is outside is often religion, or a religious response, and obviously it can be outward religious enthusiasm. That does not mean God is necessarily in it. Because something is religious doesn’t mean it is a place where the Father abides, or even particularly likes. There is nothing in Scripture that says God ever cared for religion. Trouble is, religion can have the ‘bells and smells’ of the real deal, and often does, and yet not have life in it, the life of the Father. Many times, if not always, religion is a rival to God and His purposes. The outside is fake if the inside is fake. Outside is real if the inside is real.

“The Kingdom of God is within you.” Jesus