Zealous: Running The Race With Great Industry and Endeavor

When serving the Lord Jesus, He is not looking for mere lukewarm or tepid. Indeed, He spits those out of His Holy mouth, as He tells the Church at Laodicea in Revelation 3:16. Who likes lukewarm water when you are expecting ice-cold or lukewarm coffee when you are desirous of piping hot? They are nauseating. Likewise, Jesus desires boiling hot zeal from those who follow Him – not merely an assent to His Truth. Words can be cheap and head knowledge alone, puffs. We are called to flesh out His will and His ways in our lives. To walk as He walked through His power and for His glory. We were never made to remain the same. And all of us are in process – not one of us is perfect or we would be home with the Lord Jesus, Amen? We are to be those who are fervent in spirit and who steadfastly wrestles in prayer. Is God not deserving of our very best? 

We often seek to “give our all’” in our jobs or the sports we are participating in or in the friendships we seek. Yet, as our first love, Jesus is to be our insatiable desire. Nothing else we seek to substitute for Him will ever fully satisfy our longing hearts but will always find us wanting – bigger, better, more successful – it is never ending. Enough is never enough.  

We were made by Him and for Him and our hearts find no rest but in Him alone. He is the One who bestows upon us perfect peace – a peace which passes human understanding. And our zealous actions for His glory will always please the Father as well as ourselves. The world, our own sinful flesh and Satan all contribute to our lack in this zealous endeavor and the waste of this one life we have been given. God does not desire half-hearted devotion rather wholehearted, accompanied with a willing mindset. Unfortunately, He will never force us. His desire is for us to love him wholeheartedly, purely. This, of course, is for our best. The Creator knows fully what the created needs.  

God has a purpose for each life and we are not to waste it. Indeed, the purpose of our lives belongs to God and not us, as Oswald Chambers states. We are not to be lazy or shrinking back in this so great an endeavor. Eternity will prove this true. Believers in Christ Jesus are to walk as He walked – selflessly – seeking to please the Father in all that He did. As He came to make disciples and fishers of men, so too we. We are not to shrink back from His very best for our lives by being lazy or lackadaisical or disgruntled. We are to serve the Lord with gladness wherever He places us, coming before His Presence with thanksgiving, knowing we can trust Him and that He always has our best interest at heart. Remember, Jesus bled and died to redeem us and to empower us to walk as He walked – for our good and for His glory.