The Zeal

Well, I’ve done it again. My office (man cave) has become so cluttered, the only part of the floor that’s visible is a path between the door and the chair. It doesn’t take long to decide whether I want to drag something home for “future use” but it seems to take forever to decide where to store it until that time comes. “Oh, I’ll just put it here for right now and get to it later.” How many times have you said that? If I were to sit down right now just to read all the stuff I want to, it would probably take to the end of the year. That isn’t half the mess. I’ve printed out hundreds of stories that need filing away in my big, nearly empty, filing cabinet. The problem is, every time I get started I run into the decision of what to file each item under. It’s going to take some determination and zeal to get this mess cleaned up and organized. If I’m going to git’er done I’m going to have to stop self-defeating my purpose and press on with a firmer grip on the goal.
As a very young child, Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. had a peculiar and memorable fear of church, according to David McCullough’s book, “Mornings On Horseback”. Teddy was so terrified that he refused to set foot inside a church building if alone. Finally, his mother so insisted that he told her he was afraid if something called the “zeal”. Using a concordance, his mother read aloud the passages containing the word “zeal” from her King James Bible. Suddenly he told her to stop! The passage was John 2: 17 (Psalm 69: 9). “And His disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.” When asked about this “zeal”, he admitted he was not sure what it was, but thought it was probably a large animal like an alligator or a dragon. Needless to say, Teddy Roosevelt’s attacks of asthma occurred more often early Sunday mornings.
[Romans 12: 9-21] zeal: n fervent devotion, fanaticism. Did you notice it’s a noun? Zeal is something you possess. Most people treat it as a verb, something you must do. Let’s look at it this way. Have you ever truly wondered why Jesus loved to have the little children around Him, or why He said, “…anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it”? I think because children are full of zeal. What sort of heart does it take to learn how to walk? To learn how to talk? To endure the first day of school, and the many years to follow? To live with siblings? To love abusive parents? It takes a heart full of zeal. The heart of a child picks them up when they fall, starts them over and over again when they fail, until they get it right, and allows them to see, and seek to comfort, the pain in others. But alas, we allow the trials and tribulations of life to change our zeal, from a joyous possession, to a chore of drudgery. So, Jesus encourages us to return to our childhood, to both help us endure the trials of life and embrace the Kingdom of God with an attitude of complete devotion and love. In Paul’s letter to the Romans, he uses words like, must, sincere, hate, cling, devoted, never, fervor and so on. He teaches with zeal. He’s fanatical about how those in the Kingdom should live daily and treat one another. Jesus didn’t hide His feelings for those buying and selling in the temple courts the day He upset their applecart. He felt the pain of his Father and was embarrassed with shame for what the people were doing. Does your idea of zeal grow your faith as a chore, or is your faith growing and sharing because zeal for eternal life fills your heart? The heart of a fighter is “eaten up” with zeal. Get up and live.