ROMANS 12:11
“not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord;”
One thing that can kill a business is a slothful employee. When one person is not doing their job effectively, the whole team suffers. I remember years ago when I had a part-time job at Walmart. I worked a third shift job a couple of nights a week to earn a little extra money. There were so many employees there who did as little as possible. When I kept working all night, they would tell me to slow down or take a break because I was making them look bad. Sorry to say but I wasn’t the one making them look bad.
Paul addresses slothfulness in today’s verse with a caution. On the first hand, he tells us to be “not lagging behind in diligence.” The Greek word for “lagging behind” is oknērós. It occurs here and just two other places. Secondly, Paul tells us to be “fervent in spirit.” Zéō is the Greek word translated as “fervent.” Let’s look at these two words a bit.
APPLICATION
Oknērós means someone has a less than desirable attitude about the task at hand. It can result in tardiness or laziness. Getting a job done has as much to do with attitude as it does with aptitude. You have to get your head in the game, so to speak. This word in used in Matthew 25:26 to describe the servant who buried his master’s one talent rather than using it to gain more for his master. Don’t bury your gifts the Lord has given you.
Zéō means “to show great zeal; be ardently passionate (literally ‘boiling’ with interest or desire).” (HELPS Word-studies). Picture a pot of boiling water. The sound you hear is supposedly how this word sounds in the Greek. It’s an onomatopoetic word, according to some scholars. I don’t hear that myself, but then again, I’m not Greek, lol. This word was used one other time to describe Apollos in Acts 18:25. He showed that fervent spirit in preaching the truth.
Why do we need to not lag and to be fervent? Because we are serving the Lord. That’s the last phrase of today’s verse. You can’t effectively serve the Lord if you’re a slacker. You need to be passionate about your service also to be effective. Paul gives us some great advice today. Don’t be a slacker! Do be passionate! Serve the Lord with your whole heart and see what He does in and through you.
Thank You, Father, for the attitude You give me when I submit to You.
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