Zeal
Good morning brethren, I like to write on a topic “Zeal”, How do we define zeal? In Christianity, it is a burning desire to please God, a spiritual response to God, characterised by passion and commitment to do His will, and to advance His glory in the world in every possible way. Just to add that zeal is not a personality trait but a desire to make God known, loved, and served, and to bring salvation to others. To better put this we can say one with a positive zeal, is a person that is earnest, uncompromising, meticulous and fervent in spirit. One that is willing to make sacrifices, deny himself or herself, and suffer to honour Christ. The one who only care for one thing, live for one thing and that one thing is to please God. Examples of positive zeal include, Jesus’s actions when, in His devotion to God’s glory, He overturned the money changer’s tables and cleansed the temple of their greed (John 2:13-17).
We read also in Numbers 25:1-13 of Phinehas, son of Eleazar and grandson of Aaron the priest, his zeal for the Lord when he took action to stop a plague and judge the idolatry of Israel. The Lord rewarded Phinehas’s zeal with a special covenant of peace. In that covenant, God gave his descendants a permanent right to the priesthood, because his zeal purified the people of Israel, by making them right with God (verses 12-13). Also we read how Prophet Elijah demonstrated a positive zeal for the Lord in his showdown with the priests of Baal on Mount Carmel (1 Kings 18:20-40). Just as we have positive zeal, there are also negative zeal. It is negative because it is zeal misplaced, it may also be called zeal without knowledge. Proverbs 19:2 says, “It is dangerous to have zeal without knowledge, and the one who acts hastily makes poor choices”. Negative zeal is seen in the life of one with single-minded desires, for example Saul, before he became a believer operated a misplaced zeal when he destroyed the Gibeonites (2 Samuel 21:2). He himself was zealous in persecuting the church before he was saved. In one of his misplaced zeal, he gave approval to Stephen’s murder (Acts 8:1). After he became a believer, he described the unbelieving Jews of his day as “zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge” (Romans 10:2). Please and please, let me add that It is good to be zealous, as long as the purpose is good.
In conclusion, our zeal should be sincere, and not for pretence, we read in Galatians 4:18 “Be so always and not just when I am with you”. Apostle Paul admonishing believers to serve wholeheartedly and not pretence. Service is for 10.30am and workers meeting is for 10am. God’s blessings - Mike