Zeal is a passion, a desire for things of God. Like Jesus, the Christian is to have this same zeal. It speaks about our heart and emotions that motivate us to live faithfully. It speaks about our determination and resolution. Sometimes in our zeal for a cause, we make mistakes. Therefore, it is important that our zeal for God be directed in the right manner. Jesus is our example.
It is Passover in Jerusalem. Jesus enters the court of the Gentiles at the temple. He is angry at what is happening in this court area. The priest and merchants have changed it into a marketplace. His zeal for God’s house is stirred. He makes a whip out of some cords and begins to open the gates and drive out the animals and turn over the tables. Jesus cried “Take these things hence; make not my Father’s house a house of merchandise” (John 2:16).
God’s house was being desecrated. The house of God was and still is a place of prayer and worship. Even the Gentile court was to be a place of prayer. But the priests and merchants were making it a market. Wherever we assemble in the name of God to worship, we should do so in reverence to God. WE should show our respect for HIS great and holy name. Paul tells us Jesus died to “…purify unto himself a peculiar people zealous of good works.”
In Acts 4:18-20, Peter and John are brought before the Sanhedrin for healing a crippled beggar on the Sabbath. They had preached to the crowd about Jesus and HIS kingdom. The Sanhedrin rebukes them and tells them not to preach in Jesus’ name. But Peter and John reply “For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.” (Acts 4:20)
They are full of zeal for the cause of Christ. They must speak about it. It is a Passion burning in their hearts. In every example, zeal is the key characteristic. God wants us to be zealous for HIM and HIS CAUSE. He wants us to be zealous about preaching the world (Ch. 17). Doing all kind of good works (Titus 2:14) and worshipping him (2 Samuel 24:24).
He expects us to have a passion for HIS cause. It is a witness of love.