EARNESTLY

The dictionary defines the word earnestly as:

doing something with deep and sincere feeling;

seriously; thoughtfully. The root word earnest is synonymous with fervent: having or showing

great warmth or intensity of spirit, feeling, enthusiasm; intent, purposeful, determined,

industrious, ambitious.

These words and definitions all remind me of my favorite scripture:

“You shall love the Lord Your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength,

and with all your mind.”

(Deuteronomy 6:5 and Matthew 22:37)

This is the first commandment of God to His people, and it is upon this commandment that we should build our whole life.

I see this as a cue from God, our Creator, that He expects us to, and makes us able to be sincere and thoughtful in all we do. To be purposeful, and have intensity of spirit, feeling, and enthusiasm. To live life earnestly, beginning with our relationship with Him.

The Bible is full of stories of men and women living in this way. We see Jesse’s son, David, as a vivid example in the Old Testament. We can sense David’s earnestness in his prayers in the Psalms, and in his determined and passionate plea to go fight Goliath. (1 Samuel 17:31–37)

Then there is Paul in the New Testament. He continuously is writing letters to the churches and taking the Gospel to the Gentiles with such fervency and intent.

We see this earnestness in a quieter way, but with just as much resolve, in Mary, the sister of Lazarus, as she sits listening at Jesus’ feet. Also when she is anointing Him with costly perfume, and being the first to come to the tomb.

Other examples are the woman with the issue of blood who is certain that she would be healed. Maneuvering her way through the midst of a throng of people just to touch the hem of Jesus’ clothes. And John, the disciple of Jesus, being always close to Him, even as He died on the cross.

Earnestness can also look like a farmer sowing seed in a field and tending to its growth. It can look like an athlete preparing for a competition, a writer penning a story, or a teacher helping others learn. All of these take focus of mind, affection of heart, and diligence of physical strength. All of these require living earnestly every day.

Earnestness is important not only for us personally to enjoy and embrace all the mountains and valleys of life, but also in its impact on those around us. Being earnest about what we are doing, and how we are living, brings a component of emotion which inspires others to action. Think of a mother raising her children, or a mentor coaching a person, a teacher instructing her students, or a friend sharing her experiences. Earnestness can permeate the atmosphere of those situations. It can produce a desire to dream, and to strategize those dreams into reality with firmness of purpose. Earnest dreams and goals can even be imparted into the hearts of the next generation.

When we are earnestly pursuing something, earnestly engaging in a course of activity, a moment of success in that pursuit can be quite emotional. We might feel like rejoicing... Maybe by dancing, or singing, or smiling or crying. We may want to quite literally shout with joy! In Luke 10:21 we see Jesus showing us a response like this. He was listening to all the good things that had happened upon sending out 70 of His disciples to minister to people and tell them about the Kingdom of God. When He heard, “He rejoiced in the Holy Spirit.” The Greek word used here means: properly, getting so glad one jumps in celebration; to exalt (boast) because one is so experientially joyful. This is the fun part of living life earnestly!

Sometimes, however, when we pour our hearts into something and it doesn’t initially meet with success, we may feel sad, frustrated, and disillusioned. This is where the resolve part of earnestness takes over. This is where the "being" part of BEAUTY shines into the situation. If our identity (our being as described in the previous chapter) is secure then we can dive back into the water earnestly with excitement. Our inner identity is not at risk when failure comes. We can therefore learn from the failure, and take another step closer to being successful at that which we love. We don’t have to compromise being earnestly who we are in order to avoid the feelings of failure. We can instead pursue the next step with more wisdom, and faith. Faith is definitely a necessity in earnestness. Faith in yourself, yes, but more importantly faith in God’s ability to guide you into His destiny for you. Faith that He will give you eyes to see the big and small picture, to see the season and the moment.

With faith and earnestness you can be catapulted to the next level of Being Earnestly And Ultimately Totally You with all the courage, spunk, common sense, resourcefulness, and joy you have inside!

Photograph by Tomas Malik @malcoo via Unsplash