Current Blog Series : Biblical Vision Explanation
C. S. Lewis: Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if
true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately
important.
When I think of the word zeal I often think about a young guy
trying to date a girl who has absolutely no desire in dating him. Often the
boy pursuing the girl will be extremely reckless with his money, thoughts and
time. Zeal can be a burning passion for anything.
Of course in this context, the zeal of a believer is one for the
Lord. We are to be whole-heartedly reckless for God. Anything that we do, we
should do it with the same veracity of that young teenager. If we are serious
about being Christians than we must be serious about the thing God is serious
about. Let’s just note a few of these points God is serious about.
His rule should be our desire. If you remember Christ’s model
prayer, he prays “thy kingdom come here on earth as it is in heaven” (Mat.
6:10). This was not a desire for a new building, army or road system.
This is a desire for the Rule of God to be so evident that all worship Him
alone. Now as we consider zeal within the believer’s heart we must be zealous
for his leadership “Lordship” in our daily lives. The calling of a believer is
not to pray a prayer and get “fire insurance.” It is the calling to be obedient, subservient, and a follower daily of Christ. Paul in his earnest desire to
follow Christ said, “I die daily” (1 Co. 15:31). Do you die daily, thus
permitting the Lord to live within you or do you live happy you have insurance
and not think about the Lord ever again? – I would like to remind you, it’s not
just “once saved always saved,” it is “when fully yielded always saved.” – Friends we
must be zealous for our Lord.
His Holiness is the second awesome zeal of the Lord. He is so
zealous for his own holiness that he came to earth to redeem the only visible
manifestation of his holiness, us. We are his image, a glimpse of him.
If you consider Saddam Hussein, he put statues up all over his country to
declare who’s land it was. Egyptians, Arcadians, Persians and numerous others
have done the same thing. Our God who is the king over all, put us as his markers of
land. But sin in our lives gives an imperfect picture of God’s holiness.
Therefore “Christ, who had never sinned, came to save us so that we might
become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor. 5:21).
This is why we pursue holiness, because he is
Holy (Leviticus 19). Out
of a pursuit for holiness we will suddenly care more and more for the things
that he cares for. Consider the remainder of Leviticus 19. If we care for
holiness, we will care for injustice, our neighbors, widows, orphans, and
purity in all other aspects of our lives.
His Church is the third awesome zealous desire of God. Ephesians 1:5 helps us understand that we are saved for
the purpose which has always existed, the church. Some might say “I’m cool with
Jesus, but I’m not cool with the church.” Beloved friends, God is cool with the
church to the point that he died for it!. If you are not participating in a
church body as I’m discussing through this blog, then please quit calling
yourself a Christian. This is of the utmost importance to God himself! He didn't die for us to live a life alone, rather he died so that we might have fellowship with one another. (1 Cor. 1:9, 2 Cor. 13:14, 1 John 1:3)
We
the Gospel community need to care for what we pursue with zeal, if it isn’t the
desires of God we need repent and realign our focus.
