By Gina Caswell Kelly
Last week, our Sunday school lesson was about Jesus clearing out the temple. In this story, Jesus grows weary of seeing all the selling of things in the courtyard of the temple. They were selling animals for sacrifice and also changing money into the appropriate coins accepted in the temple. Through the years they had added much to what God had told them back in the Old Testament. The religious leaders of the day had made it increasingly difficult to be “accepted by God.” Of course, we know this is not true at all. But there was much money being made at the expense of those people who just wanted to come to the temple to worship God. Jesus saw all this and wove a whip out of some cords and proceeded to absolutely clear it all out! He turned over tables and drove the people and animals out of the temple courtyard.
In John 2:17, it says that the disciples watched all this and remembered that it was said in Psalms, about Jesus, that “zeal for His Father’s house would consume Him.” I would say it did!
As I was preparing to teach this lesson, and even in the days since, I have thought a lot about a zeal that consumes you. Zeal is defined as great energy, passion, or intense enthusiasm in pursuit of a certain cause. It represents a dedicated, often fervent, eagerness to accomplish something, frequently used in contexts like religious devotion, political activity, or enthusiastic work. So, what are you zealous about? Is there anything that just consumes you?
I want to have that zeal that consumes me in my life about serving the Lord. I want people to be able to tell immediately that I am a child of God. I want there to be just an absolute ribbon of light that follows my life that shows people the One in Whom I trust. I want that all consuming zeal that says that I can’t help but tell people about my God!
When my daddy was in the hospital once. His mind was already kind of in and out. He asked where he was, so I told him he was in the hospital. He said, “There are other people here? Do you think they know my Jesus? Bring them in here and let me tell them about my Jesus!” He was so sick and we had almost lost him, but that zeal for his Savior so consumed him that his Savior was all he could think about. I look back on that day so often. With all the memories I have of my daddy, standing there that day and seeing that glow on his face and his zeal for Jesus is absolutely my very favorite.
So, again, what are you zealous about? What is it that you are so passionate about that it just consumes you? Oh, I pray that it is the Lord! I pray that you and I will show the world, with all we have, our great and powerful Savior! It will make a difference!
