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Zeal may be defined as an active enthusiastic interest or an ardent desire to do or have something. It is synonymous with fervor and
passion and is the opposite of apathy and indifference. Zeal is an important factor in any worthwhile cause; without it, the cause will
not have a position of proper importance in the lives of its followers. Without zeal the followers do not possess proper fervor and without
fervor there is little faithfulness. The success of any cause is greatly increased by the zeal of its proponents.
Because of the nature of zeal,it is an important objective to be sought by all Christian disciples. The cause of Christ and His truth will be
greatly enhanced if we are zealous about it. When people become zealous about Christ, His Word, and the church, they are more eager
to work tirelessly for His cause. Those who are content to remain as they have always been or to lessen the intensity of their Christian
service likely have lost their zeal, if they had ever possessed any. I think that zeal can be illustrated by the fuel in a jet engine that propels
the vehicle upward and onward. Without the fuel the plane remains motionless; with inadequate fuel it will remain in flight for a while
and then fall to the ground. It is sad that so few believers have zeal to propel them onward to greater and higher service to our King
Emmanuel. Sometimes people have manifested zeal and been motivated by it for a season; then, loosing their zeal, they fall away
and become inactive in the cause of Christ Jesus.
Zeal is so important in the Christian's life that the Bible repeatedly reminds us of the need to acquire it. God said through the Apostle
Paul, "But it is good to be zealously affected always in a good thing ..." (Gal. 4: 18). If you possess zeal, you will be affected by it and others
will be infected by it. Zeal has a way of spreading from one person to another, as does an infectious disease. When a person has a
contagious disease, others who are near him often become contaminated and infected by the same germs or virus. I believe that zeal
has a similar infectious power, for when one person is zealous about a cause, his zeal has a way of affecting others also. Wouldn't it be
wonderful if every saved person were infected by zeal and became zealous of good works?Paul wrote of Jesus saying, "...Who gave himself
for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works" (Titus 2:14). Do you
have a zeal for good works? If you are saved by God's grace, you should!
It is evident that our Lord Jesus Christ possessed zeal. It accounts for the sense of urgency and purpose which is seen in all that He did.
He said, "I must work the works of him that sent me while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work" (John 9:4). Can't you
sense the zeal of Christ as He expressed His feelings with regard to the works of His Father? I can also sense the zeal of Paul in His words,
"So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also" (Rom. 1:15). So consuming was his zeal that every
fiber of muscle tissue and every cell of his being ached to preach the gospel at Rome. His zeal forced him to give it his best and to do all
that he was capable of, so that others might hear the glorious gospel of the grace of God. He thought of neither life nor limb for he was
willing even to die for the cause of Christ and to declare boldly His grace (Acts 20:24). We certainly need more such ministers today and
more such zeal in those of us whom God has called to preach His Word. It would be an inexhaustible source of spiritual fuel, it would
spread among saints as an epidemic, and it would soon become an unquenchable fire that could not be extinguished by the combined
powers of Satan and all those who serve him.
Zeal is like a fire. A fire may be kindled from a small spark and grow into an enormous blaze that may spread from one building to
another; so does zeal. A fire may be used for good or bad purposes; zeal too can be for good or bad. Zeal used for bad purposes is evident
in today's world. Terrorism is often the product of bad zeal, and many are destroyed by it. Paul described the baneful effects of some in his
day when he said, "They zealously affect you, but not well; yea, they would exclude you, that ye might affect them" (Gal. 4:17).The effects
of their zeal was evidently not good. People may also have a zeal for God that is aimed in the wrong direction. Many times Christians
have. aimed their weapons at each other, not at Satan. The consequence of such misguided zeal has been disastrous through the
ages. Paul said, "For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge" (Romans 10:2).
When people possess zeal with proper biblical knowledge, the fire that burns is a good one. Paul acknowledged that the saints at Corinth
had zeal and encouraged them to rightly use it for the building up of the entire body of the church. He said, "Even so ye, forasmuch
as ye are zealous of spiritual gifts,seek that ye may excel to the edifying of the church" (l Cor. 14:12). If we can achieve this in the church
today, then zeal will be a good fire burning in the right direction, fanned by the wind of the Holy Spirit.
Christian zeal not only intensifies our desire to do more in the cause of Christ, but it also intensifies our desire to rid our lives of the sins
which displease God. Zeal refuses to allow us to remain at ease in the sinful practices which have previously plagued our lives and
dishonored God. Because of zeal, we cannot be content to remain as we were, for there is a holy quest to become more and more like
our Saviour. For this reason, God has intentionally linked together zeal and repenting. The church of the Laodiceans was evidently a
body of saints for whom Jesus cared very deeply. The Laodiceans are depicted in Scripture as being lukewarm, self-centered, and self
satisfied. Because Jesus saw them as they were and us as we really are, He gave this solemn warning, "As many as I love, I rebuke and
chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent" (Rev. 3:19). He could have been suggesting that they continue their zeal and add to it repentance;
however, I prefer to think that He taught them to direct their zeal in the direction of their sin. Their zeal was to create an insatiable
desire to remove sinful practices; this desire would be manifested by their repentance. So may the fires of zeal burn from our lives the dross
of sin and leave us as gold that has passed through the melting pot of the purifier Gob. 23:10).
"How is the gold become dim! how is the most fine gold changed! the stones of the sanctuary are poured out in the top of every street"
(Lam. 4:1). These profound questions which filled the mind of the weeping prophet should and must be asked by each of us today. What
accounts for the sad plight of modern-day Christianity? What explains the fact that saints of God, who are the objects of divine mercy, grace,
and love, have because of sin become as dimmed gold? What has changed the fine gold and precious stones of God's people into
something of diminished value? The answer cannot be ignored; it is the absence of zeal. Because we have lost our zeal or, at the very least,
allowed it to diminish to a dim, flickering flame, we have ceased to agonize over our sins and to be consumed with an endless desire to
be free from them and to be filled instead with righteous and true holiness (Eph. 4:24).
I pray that not all zeal is lost. I hope it will never become extinct as some creatures of God's earth have. I long to see more zeal in my
life and in the lives of those who surround me in the service of our God. What about your zeal? Has it fueled your life? Has it affected
you and infected others? Does it burn as a fire ablaze for the glory of God? The Scriptures emphasize the necessity of zeal, and they inspire
and encourage us to become more and more zealous. Ecclesiastes 9:10 teaches us, "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy
might .... " When and if we do succeed in this endeavor, our lives and those of others will be drastically changed. Through zeal we can
become more of what God intends us to be.
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