Real Zeal

The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up. —John 2:11

We are exhorted to be zealous for God—“It is good to be zealously affected always in a good thing” (Gal. 4:18). Titus 2:14 tells us, ”Christ gave Himself for us that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.” Paul testified of Epaphras, “For I bear him record, that he hath a great zeal for you” (Col. 4:13).

However, there is a false zeal as seen in Jehu when he boasted, “Come with me, and see my zeal for the Lord” (2 Kings 10:16). But Jehu’s “zeal for the Lord” was a sham. Jehu’s zeal was zeal for Jehu, not for the Lord. This becomes apparent later in Jehu’s life when he “took no heed to walk in the law of the Lord God of Israel with all his heart” (2 Kings 10:31). Jehu’s zeal was a fleshly zeal to use God’s will to accomplish his own selfish ambitions.  Just because a person may have been used by God fulfill His will, doesn’t mean he is seen by God with pleasure.

J.C. Ryle wrote in his book “Practical Religion”:

    A zealous man in religion is pre-eminently a man of one thing. It is not enough to say that he is earnest, hearty, uncompromising, thorough-going, whole-hearted, fervent in spirit. He sees one thing, he cares for one thing, he lives for one thing, he is swallowed-up in one thing — and that one thing is to please God.

Whether he lives — or whether he dies;

whether he has health — or whether he has sickness;

whether he is rich — or whether he is poor;

whether he pleases man — or whether he gives offence;

whether he is thought wise — or whether he is thought foolish;

whether he gets blame — or whether he gets praise;

whether he gets honor, or whether he gets shame

 — for all this the zealous man cares nothing at all. He burns for one thing — and that one thing is to please God, and to advance God’s glory. If he is consumed in the very burning — he is content. He feels that, like a lamp, he is made to burn, and if consumed in burning — he has but done the work for which God appointed him.

    Amen! May that kind of zeal characterize each of us in our daily life.