Revelation 3:19 KJV As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
(Webster's 1828) Zeal: Passionate ardor in the pursuit of any thing. In general, zeal is an eagerness of desire to accomplish or obtain some object, and it may be manifested either in favor of any person or thing, or in opposition to it, and in a good or bad cause.
I was preaching a missions conference a couple years ago in West Virginia. The Pastor's four year old son was playing organized soccer. The other missionaries and myself were invited to join them for his game before service one evening. Watching 16 four year olds run around after a soccer ball can be pretty entertaining. Something more entertaining...The parents of the four year olds! It’s amazing how worked up people can get over something so small.
Each and every one of us are zealous about something. There are things that we are more passionate about than others. We get excited and worked up over certain things that others don't care about. We express our interests, likes, and dislikes and can be very adamant about it. There is nothing wrong with being zealous or passionate. Jesus even asked us to be zealous in Revelation 3:19. There are things worthy of our zeal and Jesus understands that. The question is not, is zeal good? The question is, do we have zeal and what are we zealous about?
Recipients of our Zeal:
Are we passionate about the things of God? Are we zealous about standing for the truth and going about our Father's business? When someone asks us about sports we have an answer. If someone brings up politics, we'll talk about it for hours. We'll get into our conversation and excited about topics we know and enjoy. What about the things of God? Are we ready to give answers about the Lord? Are we willing to run and tell others of His resurrection?
1 Peter 3:15 (KJV) But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:
Matthew 28:8 (KJV) And they departed quickly from the sepulchre with fear and great joy; and did run to bring his disciples word.
If you want to know what someone is passionate about, start conversing with them. Watch them throughout the conversation. When they begin to speak on certain subjects their eyes will get bigger, their speech will get faster, and they may even get louder. When those things take place, you have found the recipient of their zeal. Think about it. What receives our zeal? What gets us excited? Are we passionate about our Saviour? Is He the recipient of our zeal?
To be continued... with Reasons For Our Zeal.