Ever made an elastic band-powered car at school? You wind the elastic band tight, and the car goes speeding off for a while. But as the elastic band slackens off, the car slows down and eventually comes to a standstill. Sometimes our faith journey can seem like that too. When we first make the decision to become a Christian, we’re often so full of enthusiasm and energy for God that we can’t wait to be doing things for Him and sharing our new-found faith with others. But after a while, we often find that the enthusiasm wears off, and we can be tempted to put off God’s work, or take things more slowly. The problem is that when we allow ourselves to make excuses to put things off, we lose momentum and eventually we’ll end up not doing anything at all, and our faith doesn’t develop any further. The fact is that when it comes to our faith, we shouldn’t ever allow ourselves to take it easy. In Joshua 14, we read about Caleb, who, at the age of eighty-five, attacked the giants in the hill country, drove them out, and became a land developer. And then there’s Noah, who began to build the ark when he was five hundred years old. Most people wouldn't dream of starting massive projects like those at their ages. But they knew they were doing God’s work and they weren’t going to make excuses or let anything stop them. And we need to have the same attitude when it comes to our own faith. Of course, it’s still important to have times of rest (after all, God designed rest too), but we should try to keep our enthusiasm for God’s work even when we’re resting. We shouldn’t let anything come between us and God.

What Now?

Think about when you first became a Christian. Has your enthusiasm decreased at all? If it has, ask God to help you regain it.