“As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve Him with a loyal heart and with a willing mind; for the Lord searches all hearts and understands all the intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will cast you off forever.”
1 Chronicles 28:9
Let me ask a honest question, “what is it going to take to get our hearts to burn with zeal for the gospel call of God like it does for the game of football?” One would think that as we watch God’s prophetic word unfold before our eyes in the Middle East, that we would sense the urgency of the day and we would be compelled to burn with the fire of God to win the world to Christ. Yet, the reality is that we are losing ground. Instead of more of us being on fire for the gospel call less of us are.
First, if we want to burn with zeal for the Lord we must know Him. David told Solomon to “know the God of your father…” Once we know Him personally then we can then begin to know Him practically as Lord of our lives as we flesh out our faith in our daily walk with Him.
Secondly, if we want to burn with zeal for the Lord we must Serve Him. The sad reality is that our generation knows little about service. We know little about serving because we are living in an era that expects to be served rather than to serve. If we want to be great in the kingdom we must learn to serve as Jesus did. If we want to fuel the flames of zeal in our lives we must learn to serve God and others.
Thirdly, if we want to burn with zeal for the Lord we must seek Him. In fact God says that we should seek Him “as the deer pants for the water brooks (Psalm 42.1).” Yet, we spend much of our lives seeking the things of this world as our zeal grows cold for the things of God.
Fourthly, if we want to burn with zeal for the Lord we must stay in it. That is to say that we must finish the course. We must run the race with endurance. We can never quit. We must stay strong in our commitment to the Lord. We can never give out. We must continually feast on His word and exercise our faith so that we be spiritually fit for the race that is set before us. In order for us to accomplish this we must never give in to the distractions of the world around us. We must keep our eye on the prize that is set before us in eternity and run the race to win.
Our families, friends, neighbors, colleagues at work, and countless people around the world are dying without Jesus Christ. The Church has fallen asleep. We have given our passion or zeal for God away to numerous worldly passions.
Will you be the one to rekindle the fire of the zeal of the Lord in the hearts of this generation of believers? Be that person today by praying for revival in the Church.
Garment of Praise
Monthly Insights for Spiritual Growth, Encouragement and Personal Victory.
Oluyemisi Onanuga
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version of the Bible.
Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.”
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