Day #190
Scripture Reading: Proverbs 19 …
"Zeal" is a word that
we do not use a lot today. In its place we use words like "passion" or
"commitment" or "devotion" … words
that express a strong desire leading to a strong action. You know when
someone is doing something "half-heartedly." Coaches
often tell athletes that they need to put their HEART into it! And so it
is with LIFE!! Half-hearted devotion is not devotion at all, and service
without passion may get the job done, but the fruit will be less than desired
because you are just going through the motions.
Is that you? Are you going through life
without ZEAL?! As Solomon writes his proverbs, he continually speaks
about fools and wisdom. Fools have no wisdom. They don't listen to
instruction and they speak of things they don't know. Fools are very
often zealous, but they have a different problem: they have no knowledge
to guide their zeal. "It is not good to have zeal without
knowledge" (19:2). Solomon adds, " … nor to be
hasty and miss the way.” Some
people appear to have knowledge, but no zeal; while others have zeal with no
knowledge. Wisdom requires a zeal that is derived from knowledge.
As you live your life each day you need wisdom from
God that begins, as we have seen, with true knowledge of God. There are
many in our world today who have a religious zeal based on lies and false
information about God. That is true in every false religion, and sadly,
it is even true in the church at times and in what some call “Christianity.” We know God
is our Creator. He knows us better than we know ourselves, and it is in
His Word that we find the knowledge that leads to zeal for God and His kingdom.
Without God's wisdom our spirits remain dead, "without hope and without
God in the world" (Ephesians 2:12). So Solomon says, "He
who gets wisdom loves his own soul; he who cherishes understanding
prospers" (19:8). Without wisdom your soul IS dead and will
remain dead!
But where can you find wisdom? How do you
know that the Bible is God's Word and not the Koran or some other "holy
book"? Muslims certainly have a zeal for Allah, so how do we
sort all of the false information from the true? Can we ever be sure?
Remember what Solomon says in verse 2: "It is not good to
have zeal without knowledge, nor to be hasty and MISS the WAY!"
Many of Solomon's proverbs are practical things about life. "Wealth
brings many friends" (19:4). These aren't REAL friends, but
that's what it looks like to those who don't know God. Solomon's advice
about the importance of listening (verse 20), the importance of discipline and
instruction (verses 16-18), and the consequences of laziness (verses 15 and 24)
offer wisdom for daily living.
Yet the key to understanding all of the proverbs is
in knowing Solomon's God … the God of his fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
There is really only one way to KNOW that the Bible is true and that the
knowledge of God revealed in it gives wisdom: it all points to Jesus, the
Christ, the One who alone is true God and true man. Islam, Judaism and
Christianity are the only three religions in the world that teach that there is
ONE God. Islam teaches that Jesus was a man, a prophet, but that Mohammed
was the last of the prophets, sent from Allah. But how do they know about
Jesus? From the Bible!! And the Gospels (which they claim to believe)
reveal that Jesus said He was God in the flesh. The Bible teaches in the
Gospels that Jesus predicted His death, explained WHY He was going to suffer
and die (as a "ransom" for many - for those who would
believe in Him) and that He would rise again. The Gospels teach that
Jesus rose from the dead and ascended into heaven. No one can say they
"believe" in Jesus and not know that He IS God in the flesh. No
one can say they "believe" in Jesus and not bow before Him in worship
as the King of kings and Lord of lords.
Islam is a false religion and the zeal of the
Muslims is not based on knowledge. Theirs is like all the other religions
of the world that present man with a list of things that WE must do in order to
go to "heaven," to paradise, and even then, no one can be sure.
True, biblical Christianity is the fulfillment of biblical Judaism.
The whole Bible goes together. The New Testament fulfills the Old
Testament. Jesus is the promised "Seed" of the
woman (Genesis 3:15), and the "Seed" of Abraham (Genesis
12:3). He is the "Ruler" from the tribe of Judah
(Genesis 49:10) and the "Son of David" (Luke 1:33).
While some who claim to be Christians have had zeal without knowledge in
the past, and still do today, those who know God through His Word and who put
their faith in Jesus Christ KNOW that we are saved by grace through faith.
Jesus said, "The work of God is this: to believe in the One
He has sent" (John 6:29). To "believe" means
to confess that Jesus is God, to believe that He suffered God's wrath in your
place on the cross, and to trust in His blood as the perfect sacrifice for sin.
"The fear of the LORD leads to life; then one
rests content, untouched by trouble" (19:23). Every
other religion, all other "knowledge" leads only to more attempts to
earn the favor of a "god" that doesn't exist. ONLY those who KNOW God and who have zeal for
God that is based on truth find the WAY that leads to life. Jesus said, "I
am the Way and the Truth and the Life; no one comes to the Father except
through Me" (John 14:6).
Those with such misguided zeal eventually come to
ruin. God will have His way. "Many are the plans in a man's
heart, but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails" (19:21).
Jesus said, "My Father's will is that everyone who looks to the
Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the
last day" (John 6:40). Zeal
without knowledge leads to DEATH, but serving the Lord, our God, with zeal,
with passion, with commitment, with all your heart brings joy, peace and hope
to all who confess Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord!
"My Father in heaven, Your Word gives me the
knowledge I need to live with meaning and purpose every day, focused on my
Savior and Lord Jesus Christ. Fill me daily with Your Spirit, that I may
serve You with zeal and testify to those around me, in what I say and what I
do, that You alone are God, and that true life, eternal life, is found only in
You. Help me to listen eagerly to Your instruction and to seek wisdom in
Christ, my Savior and my Lord. In Jesus' name, Amen"
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