Zealous.

Romans 12
9Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. 11Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

There's something about newness that brings about excitment. I mean, think about New Year's resolutions. People make all these plans to start fresh. To jump into a new exercise routine or suddenly become super organized. And people usually start out really well. They're all jacked up, excited about the possibilities, and then...

time goes by.

And the longer the minute hand spins, the more the original excitment fades and you find yourself throwing your clothes on your exercise ball because they don't fit in your closet.

Now that I've been here for a few months, the newness has worn off. I don't need as long to prepare for activities. There's a "predictable" ebb and flow to the days, combinations of work and rest. I'm also losing some of my diliegce. My alarm clock somehow keeps getting set for later and later even though I'm still going to bed at roughly the same time. The once riviting routine of morning bible reading has fallen by the wayside and something has taken it's place. I say "something" because I don't know what those extra minutes go to...a few to sleep, some to dilly-dallying, I'm not really sure. But I'm falling into a routine. I can "go through the motions" and still do a fairly decent job.

But I don't want it to be like that. I don't want that determination and dilience to fade with time. I don't want to loose my zeal.

"Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord."

A few of the other passages talking about zeal are actually pretty violent. Isaiah and Ezekiel talk about God's zeal and it always involves annihalation, fire, burning, etc. It's powerful stuff. I want to be dangerously passionate. About life, about truth, about God.

No matter the years I've "been a Christian" or the days I've been at a job, I want to keep my zeal, hold on to my spiritual fervor and dangerously serve the Lord.