zeal

Yesterday I was reading about Christ's zeal, His dying passion for God; it literally consumed Him, "ate Him up." His zeal inflamed His Spirit, affections, took all of His time and strength, to the very end of His life. In John 2:17, He desperately wanted people to know the abundant life and true freedom that God had for them. Christ simply wanted people to "get it"...to know Himself. But they missed Him in their religion.

Jesus zealousness for God included freeing the gospel from those that bound it, from religion, from institutions, from human fallacies that claim a greater knowledge than others, from man-made laws. His zeal ushered in the liberating gospel of grace and love and truth. My zeal for Him must be the same; the truth of His truths, what true worship is in the "temple" of my life now ("in Spirit and in truth", John 4:23-24), and not to any fallible man-designed principles. Jesus said in John 8:32, "Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free."

I reflected on my own life, wondering if those who knew me, interacted with me, "experienced" me, were they experiencing Christ in such a way that they knew He was real in my life? Can they see that Jesus is my life out of my zealousness? Do I have a dying passion to know Him more and for others to experience Him the same?

Well God in all His sweetness allowed His zeal to manifest itself shortly after my time with Him in His Word. I met with a teammate to check out a gym, where I could "train" her a few times a week in strength training. Before I knew it, we were engaging in a spiritual conversation. I was becoming so excited as she asked me if I was "religious,"to which I replied, "No, I hate religion actually. It is man-made, requires a checklist be met, condemns, and is not freeing! But Jesus, I walk with Him, and here is what I mean..." For the next 15 minutes, I had the privilege to tell her about Christ, the gospel, how He has transformed my life and now is my life. And I could feel in that moment, the passion and zeal of Jesus oozing from me, so much so that all the steroid-popping men in the gym silenced their conversations and "subtly" listened in. She was tracking and resonating so much with what I had to say, especially as she shared about her friend who went to America and returned "religious." The Jesus I was telling her about offered freedom and wholeness and love that she has only dreamt about knowing. And now, she knows it is available to her. At the end, she said, "Yeah! Freedom is what I want. I like you. I like you a lot."

If my life is an authentic, attractive, passionate pursuit of more of Jesus, then as I proclaim truth, the reality of Jesus very life in me will straight up flow from me. It is here that He can create in others those things which He alone can do. My teammate doesn't need religion; she needs Jesus.