One of the saddest things in the Bible is when King Jesus is talking to His churches in the book of Revelation. It’s sad to me because the church allowed themselves to be in the situations that they were being rebuked for. They would not have fallen prey to sin if they had held fast to His precepts. (Oops! I guess I should be saying we instead of they!)
But our Lord, because of His Love for them and us, identified the problems and provided solutions. He even commended them for the good that they had done! All except for the last church. The church in Laodicea! He had nothing good to say about that church.
Jesus said that this church was lukewarm– tepid, unenthusiastic, apathetic, halfhearted, indifferent. Also included in their list of sins is spiritual pride and arrogance! They believed themselves to be wealthy. They had put their trust in the riches of the world rather than the true wealth that come from God alone. They thought that they were “all that” but God saw them as pitiful.
For you say, I am rich; I have prospered and grown wealthy, and I am in need of nothing; and you do not realize and understand that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. Revelation 3:17 AMPC
The Lord Jesus gave them instructions on how to overcome this grievous malady. Then He told them to be zealous and repent.
What they needed and what we all need is the Fire of the Holy Ghost that makes us zealous– passionately committed with ardor and with a fervent love for our King and His Kingdom!
It was said of Jesus when He turned the money changers out of the temple:
And His disciples remembered that it is written [in the Holy Scriptures], Zeal (the fervor of love) for Your house will eat Me up. [I will be consumed with jealousy for the honor of Your house.] John 2:17 AMPC
Jesus was zealous!!! He had that fire, the fervor of love that would not allow Him to permit anything that would bring dishonor to the Kingdom of God. He was passionate about demonstrating the power and authority He had as the Son of God.
And He has given this same power and authority to us as His Kingdom representatives. Shouldn’t we be just as passionate and zealous about the things of the Kingdom???
The other charge King Jesus gave us was to repent. Let’s clean up any confusion about this word. Yes, it does mean godly sorrow about sins we may have committed. But we must add to that godly sorrow a desire to change and to become pleasing in God’s eyes by coming into agreement with the Word of God.
Repentance means to change the way you think. Or as the Apostle Paul put it when he begged the church to “be transformed (changed) by the [entire] renewal of your mind [by its new ideals and its new attitude]. (Romans 12:2)”
The Passion Translation even gives us the reason this change of mind is so necessary:
This will empower you to discern God’s will as you live a beautiful life, satisfying and perfect in his eyes. (Romans 12:2)
When we get into the Word and allow it to transform us we will be empowered!!! How can you not be zealous when you are truly aware of the power you have been given to live a beautiful life???
I realize that it can be fairly easy to find yourself leaning toward the lukewarm attitude at certain times, and that’s okay. But we have the Holy Spirit in us always ready to help us to see the Truth about ourselves. Always ready to nudge us closer to Him. Always ready to love and encourage us back into right relationship with Him, even when we are wrong!!!
I recently came across a video that may provide the help we need to avoid becoming lukewarm.
How to Keep the Fire of the Holy Spirit Burning
1 thought on “Be Zealous!”
Good Morning Jo,
Thank you for sharing that inspiring video. “Keep the fire of Holy Spirit Burning”
That was excellent!