Zeal!

August 2007
John chapter 2 tells the story of Jesus going into the temple and seeing the money changers doing their daily business in God’s house. He was so enraged, He immediately sprang into action: “So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father’s house into a market!” His disciples remembered that it is written: ‘Zeal for your house will consume me.’” John 2:15-17 (NIV)What drove Jesus into such extreme action? It was His zeal for His Father’s house.Dictionary.com defines zeal as follows: “fervor for a person, cause, or object; eager desire or endeavor; enthusiastic diligence; ardor. The American Heritage Dictionary states zeal is: Enthusiastic devotion to a cause, ideal, or goal and tireless diligence in its furtherance.”

What are you zealous about? What provokes you into action? Whose honor do you rise to defend if it is challenged? What stirs you into white-hot passion? Is it your favorite football team? Is it your family? How about your reputation? Jesus showed us where His passion lay… He was passionate about God’s house. Numbers 25 tells us about another zealous individual… his name was Phinehas.
Then an Israelite man brought to his family a Midianite woman right before the eyes of Moses and the whole assembly of Israel while they were weeping at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. When Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest, saw this, he left the assembly, took a spear in his hand and followed the Israelite into the tent. He drove the spear through both of them—through the Israelite and into the woman’s body. Then the plague against the Israelites was stopped; but those who died in the plague numbered 24,000. The Lord said to Moses, “Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest, has turned my anger away from the Israelites; for he was as zealous as I am for my honor among them, so that in my zeal I did not put an end to them. Therefore tell him I am making my covenant of peace with him. He and his descendants will have a covenant of a lasting priesthood, because he was zealous for the honor of his God and made atonement for the Israelites.” Numbers 25:6-13 (NIV)
Are you getting the idea God loves for us to be zealous for Him? In the next few days, think about what zealous people look like and how they act. They don’t just “go through the motions” or “mail it in.” They give 100%. They battle through pain, fatigue and discouragement to further the cause. Couples in love have zeal. They talk on the phone for hours. They drive miles out of their ways to see each other. They see all the good in each other, and stubbornly ignore the bad. Do we feel that way about God? Do we passionately pursue His presence? Do we cheerfully give Him our time? How about His house? Do we give it our all? Do we rise up to defend it if it is dishonored by something that is said or done, or have we lost our zeal? I know sometimes for me, the flame cools. The passion dies out a bit, and it becomes routine… maybe even drudgery. Let’s examine ourselves and reignite the coals if they need it.

Zealously yours,
Danny