Zeal

In my last posting, I was showing the effect of passivity.  The opposite of passivity is zeal.  This is actually a richer condition than passion, which involves physical action, suffering and emotion.  Zeal motivates passion.  All through the Scripture, zeal is used in connection with, and to describe certain actions of God.  My recent postings have been exploring our identity with Jesus, and to see how His life and ministry reveal to us the covenant expectation of God for us.  We know He wants to make "man in the image of God".  We know Jesus came in the exact likeness and representation of the Father.  Our failure is the lack of identifying to Jesus and to walk, minister and become the representation of Jesus to the world around us.

John 2:17 (ESV)  His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.”  
Isaiah 59:16-17 (NIV) ¹⁶ He saw that there was no one, He was appalled that there was no one to intervene; so His own arm achieved salvation for Him, and His own righteousness sustained Him.  ¹⁷ He put on righteousness as His breastplate, and the helmet of salvation on His head; He put on the garments of vengeance and wrapped Himself in zeal as in a cloak.  (Some translations use the word "intercede" for "intervene".)

No one can doubt that we are close to the end of man's opportunity to choose to give God a full "covenant response" to prepare ourselves for entry into the next covenant.  I pray that all who desire earnestly to be like Him will see the urgency of the need to be ready.  We cannot be passive to the need for intercessors for the family, the church, the nation, and the world.  We must put on zeal and let it "eat us up"!  We must let the Word of God wash us of the effects our environment has muddied us and clothe ourselves with the bridal garments God holds out to us.

Ephesians 5:25-27 (NIV) ²⁵ Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her ²⁶ to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, ²⁷ and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.

Revelation 19:7-9  (NASB) ⁷ Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready.” ⁸ It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.

⁹ Then he said to me, “Write, ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.’” And he said to me, “These are true words of God.”