By Peter Kennedy
"Those people are zealous to win you over, but for no good. What they want is to alienate you [from us], so that you may be zealous for them. It is fine to be zealous, provided the purpose is good, and to be so always and not just when I am with you." - Galatians 4:17-18
William Sangster was a popular Methodist minister in England during the middle of the twentieth century. In his autobiography, he wrote: “I believe that I was born to be a minister. I cannot recall a time in my life when I was without a sense of holy vocation. It did not derive from any conviction in the mind of my parents, who had never so much as entertained the thought. But I felt the pressure of a directing hand upon me from my tenderest years.”
When he was a pastor for the Methodist church in Scarborough, Pastor Sangster had an eccentric member who tried to be a zealous Christian. Unfortunately, the man was mentally deficient and usually did the wrong thing. While working as a barber the man lathered up a customer for a shave, came at him with the poised razor, and asked, "Are you prepared to meet your God?" The frightened man fled with the lather still on his face!
We should be zealous to know Jesus and to make Him known. Today in prayer, thank Christ for the passion that He has for you and seek to be zealous only in knowing Christ deeper.
"Zeal without knowledge is fire without light." – Thomas Fuller
God's Word: "Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord." - Romans 12:11
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