Topic: Zealous for God
Today’s thought comes from the September Bible reading—the book of Galatians. The passage in focus is Galatians 1:11-24.
Before Paul became a follower of Jesus, his zeal for his nation, his people and their way of worship was commendable, but wayward. No one was more zealous than he. He would later speak about the zealousness of his actions:
Acts 22:3, “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated under Gamaliel, strictly according to the Law of our fathers, being zealous for God just as you all are today.”
Galatians 1:14, “and I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries among my countrymen, being more extremely zealous for my ancestral traditions.”
Philippians 3:6, “as to zeal, a persecutor of the church…”
But only when the grace of God changed his life did he discover true zeal. Now, he was a part of God’s new covenant with all men, and his efforts were now focused on the things of Christ. His passion before was leveled against people, whereas now his passion was for people. All because of the grace of God!
Paul remarks that the grace of the believers in Galatians has changed them as well. You are no longer running away from God and fighting against Him all at the same time. Now you have been reconciled to God by His grace. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5:17-19: “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, this person is a new creation; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their wrongdoings against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.”
Before Christ you were zealously following after the things of this world, but now, Christ has gloriously saved you by His grace and your earnestness can be transferred to the things of God.
Halford Lucock (A Methodist minister) wrote, “I was impressed several years ago when I read that Eugene Ormandy dislocated a shoulder while directing the Philadelphia Orchestra. I do not know what they were playing, but he was giving all of himself to it! And I have asked myself sadly, ‘Did I ever dislocate anything, even a necktie?’”
Has the grace of God in your life changed you to the point that you are zealous for God?
See you Sunday!
Dr. Scott Kallem