Eager is a rare word in the New Testament. It literally means to be single-minded. To be so focused on something that you can hardly contain the enthusiasm to do it. My first thought, when I see the word eager runs to an athlete ready to perform. If you are a football fan, take a moment to watch the team as they are getting ready to run onto the field. In the tunnel, they are jumping up and down, they are so anxious to get started that it consumes them. They are single-minded about the task ahead. They have one goal. They want to play ball to win! This was the attitude of Paul in Romans 1:15.
Romans 1:15 “So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also.”
The phrase Paul uses “so as much as in me” would be better translated as I am so eager! Paul is ready to preach the gospel to those in Rome. He has been God’s ambassador to Antioch, Ephesus, Athens, and Corinth, and now he wants to go to Rome whenever God permits.
Notice that Paul is prepared. Many say they want to do things for God, but they do not put in the effort of preparation. Are you preparing to witness to others? I talk with many Christians who say they want to win others to Christ but say they don’t know how, or they are afraid they will say the wrong thing. I think Paul gives us an example of what we are to be doing while we are waiting for the opportunity. We need to be studying and praying, so we will be ready when the opportunity arises. It would be awful to have the opportunity and blow it because we were not prepared. Paul was ready and waiting, but not idle. Wherever God placed him, he saw an opportunity, and we should too. Paul was not deterred by fear or any other external force, but he was eager and ready. All he was waiting for was God to say go! This is the mark of a mature believer, single-minded, ready, and anxious to do whatever God wants when God wants it.
In Philippians chapter 3, Paul’s statement in verse 15 “as many as be perfect,” means mature. In verse 14, he talks about pressing toward the mark. In other words, a mature believer will express an eagerness of mind to pursue greater intimacy with Christ and conformity to Christ. The contrast of that is an immature believer in Ephesians 4:14, where they are described as being like children tossed back and forth. Children can be easily influenced. Their desires change with each new thing they see. They are not focused on the long-term prize.
Philippians 3:14-15 “I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in anything ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.”
Ephesians 4:14 “That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;”
Paul may have had an eagerness that to us seems unattainable, but God offers to each of us as much of himself as we want. Our eagerness to serve will grow as our desire to know Him increases. How eager are you to know God, to really know Him, where you are consumed with thoughts of Him in every situation? Are you single-minded?
excellent