Enthusiasm and zeal are both characteristics of nearly every great servant of God in the Bible. Yet, in our modern age, the attitude of being “cool” seems to prevail. People seem to be suspicious of anyone getting “too excited” about Christianity.
Why is this?
Part of the answer is that we have become such a secularized society. Religion is nowhere near the “big issue” in modern life that it was a few generations ago. Another reason is that some people feel they have been “burned” by religion and are therefore afraid to commit themselves wholeheartedly to any religion—even the true religion of their Creator.
But this can only be self-defeating, for again and again God makes it clear that—in every age—He wants His servants to go “all out” to seek Him and to serve Him. After describing how His people would be taken into slavery in the “latter days,” God says: “When you beget children and grandchildren and have grown old in the land, and act corruptly and make a carved image in the form of anything, and do evil in the sight of the LORD your God to provoke Him to anger, I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that you will soon utterly perish from the land which you cross over the Jordan to possess; you will not prolong your days in it, but will be utterly destroyed. And the LORD will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where the LORD will drive you. And there you will serve gods, the work of men’s hands, wood and stone, which neither see nor hear nor eat nor smell. But from there you will seek the LORD your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with ALL YOUR HEART and with all your soul. When you are in distress, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, when you turn to the LORD your God and obey His voice” (Deuteronomy 4:25–30).
In the book of Ecclesiastes God tells us: “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your MIGHT; for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going” (Ecclesiastes 9:10). And in Colossians 3:23 we are commanded: “And whatever you do, do it HEARTILY, as to the Lord and not to men.”
Indeed, the entire Bible is filled with instructions and examples of the need for enthusiasm and zeal when serving the Living God. The patriarch Jacob, after all of the machinations and trickery he had been involved in—finally turned wholeheartedly to God in his later years. At the time of a sort of “conversion” in his life, Jacob cried out to God, “O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, the LORD who said to me, ‘Return to your country and to your family, and I will deal well with you’: I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies and of all the truth which You have shown Your servant; for I crossed over this Jordan with my staff, and now I have become two companies. DELIVER ME, I pray, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, lest he come and attack me and the mother with the children” (Genesis 32:9–11).
Later that same night, we read that Jacob “wrestled all night” with that Great Being who later gave His life for us. It was obviously a “test” to reveal how much Jacob wanted God’s promise. After he had zealously wrestled all night long, Jacob told God’s Messenger, “I will NOT let you go unless you bless me” (v. 26). And the One who became Christ answered, “Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel [prince of God]; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed” (v. 28).
Commenting on this scripture, The Critical and Experimental Commentary states:
It is evident that Jacob was aware of the character of Him with whom he wrestled; believing that His power, though by far superior to human, was yet limited by His promise to do him good, he determined not to lose the golden opportunity of securing a blessing. And nothing gives God greater pleasure than to see the hearts of His people firmly adhering to Him. But as Jacob continued wrestling all night, and was not blessed till “the breaking of the day,” so God frequently does not answer the prayers of His people till the last moment, —till, by the very delay— strengthening of the spirit of prayer, and by the continued exercise of it—their hearts are brought into such a state of submission and of faith, that they become fit recipients of the blessing (p. 215).
Because he went “all out,” Jacob [“Usurper”] had his very name changed to “Israel”—which means “prevailer with God” or “prince of God.” As you read this account carefully, you get the feeling that just as Jesus “sweat blood” during His super-intense prayer to God before His crucifixion, so Jacob must have virtually sweat blood in his total effort to prevail with God during his special time of trial.
Have you cried out so earnestly that you burst a blood vessel? How much does eternal life in the very Family of God REALLY mean to you?
Put it another way: How easily can you become discouraged or bitter or just drift away from God and His true Church?
The very attribute that separates the Philadelphians from the Laodiceans at the end of this age is their ZEAL for the Word of God and for the Work of God. Remember that Jesus Christ, the “Faithful and True Witness,” clearly sets forth His judgment of the Laodiceans: “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are LUKEWARM, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth” (Revelation 3:15–16). This weak, insipid, lukewarm approach to God, of NOT being able to get totally excited and totally involved in the Word and Work of God, is one of the most disgusting things imaginable to the Living Christ. So He says, “I will SPEW you out of My mouth!”
Please think deeply about that, brethren!
For this present society is soon to come to an end. Those of you who make even a “lesser god” out of your job or business, your home or family, your professional or society friends, your money, your prestige— or whatever—are going to LOSE OUT unless you genuinely REPENT.
As Christ’s servant, I cannot help you by putting it in a “nicer” or “softer” way! You all know what to do. You have heard this many times. You need to diligently and regularly study the Bible and “feed on Christ” (John 6:57). You need to CRY OUT to God in your prayers on a daily basis. Remember Jesus Christ’s example: “Who, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement CRIES and TEARS to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear, though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him” (Hebrews 5:7–9).
You need to learn to use the spiritual “tool” of FASTING—regularly. Remember Jesus’ instruction: “Then the disciples of John came to Him, saying, ‘Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but Your disciples do not fast?’ And Jesus said to them, ‘Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they WILL FAST’” (Matthew 9:14–15). And again, “This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and FASTING” (Mark 9:29).
David, the “man after God’s heart,” was a marvelous example of passion and zeal for God. David cried out, “As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? My tears have been my food day and night, while they continually say to me, ‘Where is your God?’” (Psalm 42:1–3).
It is hard to read Paul’s story in the book of Acts, or to study his letters, without feeling the enthusiasm and ZEAL of this Apostle who “labored more abundantly than they all” (1 Corinthians 15:10). Throughout his letters, Paul displays a remarkable degree of zeal and total commitment.
Even in chains as a prisoner in Rome, the Apostle Paul was glad that the Gospel was preached even, at times, with wrong motives. He wrote: “For I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, according to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:19–21).
Do you and I have the total commitment to wish, no matter what, that CHRIST may be “magnified” in our bodies—even if that means DEATH?
Is it “immature” to get excited and very enthusiastic about the Work of God and about our daily preparation for the soon-coming Kingdom of God? Paul certainly did not think so, for he was inspired to write: “Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I PRESS toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you” (Philippians 3:13–15).
Indeed, real spiritual maturity is found in “giving” of ourselves to our Creator and to our fellow man. It is found in “emptying” ourselves in service as Jesus Christ Himself did. It is found in ZEALOUSLY praying that our service to Him be the PASSION of our lives!
Others may yell and scream during football or soccer games, or at “rock stars” and other entertainment “idols.” But our fervent dedication and WORSHIP must be to the Great GOD who gives us life and breath. Our total passion and worship must be to the true Jesus Christ who DIED for us and who is now sitting in GLORY at the right hand of the Father.
We must not allow anything to come between us and this heartfelt relationship with our Creator and our Savior. We must NEVER turn aside or waver from this path. Then, we will be able to say, with Paul, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing” (2 Timothy 4:7–8).