Enthusiasm

The scriptures encourage us to demonstrate our love of God, the Bible, and his truth through our enthusiasm. But to what degree? Recently I experienced a sister witnessing to a friend of mine that I've been trying to cultivate into a real Bible student.

She came across as if she were a person eating the best piece of chocolate cake that she just wanted to shove a piece down everyone's throat around her. She didn't realize it, but she came across as a fanatic. Not only did she have very few specific details in answering his question "What happens when you die?" She went on to bring in a number of unrelated subjects and then concluded (after several long minutes) that she just loves the truth; it comforts her; it is her reason for living. I could tell she turned off his listening long before she was done and even I kept begging (in my mind "Sister, please stop! You're hanging yourself.")

In my mind, the proper degree of enthusiasm is more akin to an appliance salesman who truly and thoroughly knew his product and was overjoyed to tell all the features of it to a prospective customer. He kept his enthusiasm in check, making sure to pause long enough to observe the customer's body language and attentiveness and the pause to allow them to ask questions.

Only if appropriate might the salesman mention, "I even own this unit." There is the right time to hold things back and a right time to mention them. The features of the appliance should always be the main discussion. How much the salesman loves it, Should always take the back seat