O come, let us sing unto the LORD; let us make a joyful noise to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto Him with psalms.

For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods.

Psalms 95:1-3, KJV

Sometimes I need to be reminded that God and Christ want us to be "all in" when it comes to our service and devotion. We've known this for a long time. We are all familiar with Jesus' warning to those who may be tending to the "lukewarm" side of service. Yet it is when we read of the great enthusiasms of the writers of the Psalms that we can really get a glimpse as to just how enthusiastic we ought to be when it comes to our devotion and worship of the LORD.

All through the Psalms we see writers from King David to the ones in charge of the songs and worship being enthusiastic in their praise. They write of how they rejoice when someone says, "Come, let us go up to the house of the LORD". We read phrases such as, "I open my mouth and pant, longing for your commands." We read of how zeal for God's house will consume them, and then understand that this is a prophesy of how Jesus will live when He comes into this world.

It is inspiring and uplifting and instructive, and all verses seem to point to the same theme: God wants enthusiastic followers, and those that truly understand how great He is will give Him nothing less. Indeed, it seems impossible for those who genuinely believe to give Him anything less than their wholehearted love and devotion. We understand this all the more when we read throughout Scripture how God wants all of our hearts and all of our souls and all of our minds and all of our strength.

The question for us, then, is do we feel this overwhelming sense of devotion when we think of the Father and the Son? Does that enthusiasm spill over into our actions?

I have to admit that I have had more than a few times in my life when I have shown something less than enthusiasm in my own service to our God. When I was a young man, very often the last thing I wanted to do on the first day of the week was to get out of my comfy bed and go to the worship. I have had way too many occasions when service to God seemed far less exciting than the alternatives to that service.

It is not until I really think about just what God has given me with life itself, and when I further consider the depth of the love and sacrifice that Jesus had when He chose to go to the cross so that I would not have to suffer eternal punishment that I begin to fully grasp just how marvelous this gift of service is. And having done that, it becomes much easier to have a more enthusiastic response to living for them.

When you think about it, really think about it, how could we have any less an attitude than did the writer of this Psalm we see above? He was overwhelmed with thanksgiving and joy because he had the honored opportunity of serving the great King of kings! And so too should we!