David McCullough, in his book Mornings on Horseback, tells this story about Teddy Roosevelt when he was a kid.
Roosevelt’s mother, Martha, learned that he was afraid to set foot inside the building where they worshiped. He admitted that he was terrified of something called “zeal.” He thought it was crouched in the dark corners of the building ready to jump out at him.
When his mother asked him what he thought “zeal” might be, he wasn’t sure. A large animal, maybe a dragon or an alligator, he volunteered. When asked why he felt that way, He replied that the preacher read it from the Bible.
After a quick concordance search, Martha found this reference in John 2:17. “The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.”
“That’s it!” young Teddy exclaimed.
The context describes Jesus’ indignation at the greed and carnality of the money changers in the temple. As he drove them out, the Savior shouted, “Take these things away! Do not make My Father’s house a house of merchandise!”
As the disciples watched, no doubt with amazement, they remembered a quote from the Psalms that said, “Zeal for your house has eaten me up” (Ps 69:9).
Eaten up! That’s a good way to describe zeal.
Our preaching, teaching and writing theme this year is “Be Zealous: Igniting Your Spiritual Passion.”
The idea was fueled by a class I’m teaching based on Phillip Shumake’s book: “Lifelong Zeal: How To Build Lasting Passion For God.”
“Zeal is more than the ambition of youth or the burst of energy from a cup of coffee,” Phillip wrote. “In the Bible, zeal is a burning desire to please God.”
Greek expositor, Henry Thayer defined zeal as “ardor in embracing, pursuing, defending anything… Excitement of mind…Fervor of Spirit.”
The word zeal comes from the Greek word “zelos” which literally means “to be hot, or heat.”
Some folks are hot about or eaten up with the wrong things. Anger. Envy. Jealousy. And bitterness. These are destructive emotions that will eat you up and heat you up for the wrong reasons. It is zeal that is misplaced. Misdirected. And misused.
Righteous zeal will eat at you with good things. It’s being consumed with Christ. It’s passion for God’s purpose. His plan. His will. It will light a fire within you that’s divinely directed, spiritually engaged, and eternally focused
Christians should be zealous in love for the Lord and in our fervor for living the Christian life. Zeal inspires boldness. Courage. Commitment. Zeal fuels our energy. Invigorates the soul. Inspires the spirit. Quickens our emotions. And captivates the mind.
In his sermon “Reigniting Your Passion for God,” Rick Warren wrote, The creative force behind all great art, all great drama, all great music, all great architecture, all great writing is passion. Nothing great is ever accomplished in life without passion. Nothing great is ever sustained in life without passion.”
“Passion is what energizes life. Passion makes the impossible possible. Passion gives you a reason to get up in the morning and go, ‘I’m going to do something with my life today.’ Without passion life becomes boring. It becomes monotonous. It becomes routine. It becomes dull. God created you with the emotions to have passion in your life and He wants you to live a passionate life.”
That’s why Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). A full life. A rich life. A passionate life. A life fired with divine zeal.
The thesis of our theme is stated in the text from Titus 2:14 where Paul wrote that Jesus came “to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.” If you’re a Christian, Jesus purchased you, purified you, and took possession of you to produce zeal in you. Zeal to do good deeds.
God’s desire for each of us is to be zealous toward Him and for his plan and purpose for our lives.
I invite you to join us on this journey every Monday in our quest to “Be Zealous” and to ignite, or reignite, within you that which will light your spiritual fire.
–Ken Weliever, The Preacherman
ThePreachersWord 
When we feel like it would be good to do something or to say something, it would be good for us to carry on with the “suggestion from the Holy Spirit.”
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The story of Hosea and Gomer (Hosea 3: 1-3) has been used to illustrate how Jesus the Bridegroom purchased his Bride…his church to purify you, and take possession of you to produce zeal in you. Zeal to do good deeds. Hosea is the “Good” Faithful Bridegroom who gives all his money and some barley too to reclaim, buy back his unfaithful Bride who has sold herself into slavery. Yet this Old Testament story illustrates a very unequal (dare I say sinful) relationship that points the finger of blame at the Bride.
In John 3:28-29 the forerunner testifies that Christ is the Bride who belongs [to] (forever with the Bridegroom). This implies that the two are One and that the rock and the cross are One. Thus Christians should view the Crucifixion and the Resurrection with eyes of faith. The Bride and her chosen Bridegroom were/are both crucified to redeem each other and release Jesus Barabbas and his band of followers from the prison of sin.
The crucifixion executes and executed God’s plan publicly. In doing so the original sin of the blame game was/is to end and everyone who hears and heeds the “Alektor’s” the Rooster’s call to repentance should be zealous in heeding the call and claim Christ as the Bride and Bridegroom…their mother and their father, their abba, and be thankful for the forerunner’s faithful testimony (John 3:28-29; Hebrew 6:19-20). We are called to work together in peace and harmony to sustain Creation as it was in the beginning.
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