January 28                                     Mark 1 - 3

CHANGE THROUGH UNUSUAL ZEAL

MEMORISE: ‘For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me.’ (Ps 69:9)
READ: Numbers 25:6-13

Serving God requires Zeal. This refers to your level of interest, concern, dedication and commitment to the services of God. Zeal has varying degrees and the level of it in each believer will determine the extent to which such a believer can accomplish for God.

Zeal towards God can be negative or positive. Today, we find several million people engrossed in world religion. In Paul’s day it was also so. He attested to the zeal of the Israelites towards God, which was misdirected (Rom 10:1-2). He, too, had great zeal to serve God much earlier in life. But because this zeal was  miss-directed, he ended up fighting against the God he thought he was fighting for. To be effective, zeal should be backed by sound knowledge of God’s Word. Jesus Christ had great zeal. In fact, Scripture says that he was consumed by zeal towards God. He channeled his zeal correctly. He said: ‘I must do the works of him that sent me while it is day, for the night cometh when no man can work.’ He said working for God was his food. We ought to learn from His zeal.

When zeal is properly channeled to glorify God, it can be contagious and highly rewarding. From our text, Barrack failed to subdue Israel through a curse. But he succeeded later when the people started to commit fornication and idolatry with the beautiful ladies of Moab. As a result God instructed that these culprits be killed. Right in the middle of this, with great sorrow in the Israeli camp, a man walked into their midst with one of the forbidden ladies, disregarding even Moses. He passed by his front. A Levite named Phinehas saw this and was filled with holy zeal against sin. He took a javelin, went after the couple and killed them.

The judgement he executed as a servant of God on the culprits spared the whole nation the widespread judgement that was imminent. His zeal earned him a covenant of everlasting peace and today? If you demonstrate unusual zeal towards God, and do what none has ever done for him, you could earn a breakthrough that will affect several generations after you for good.

ACTION POINT
In which area in you Christian service have you demonstrated true zeal?
Ask God to let his zeal consume you.