Sabbath Thought - Like We Mean It

We have just returned from a very meaningful Feast of Tabernacles and Last Great Day.  We had eight days of hearing God's Word expounded and were reminded of the awesome events yet to be fulfilled as God brings to pass His plan of salvation for mankind.

Wherever you attended, you probably had an excitement and eagerness for the rest of God's plan to come to pass soon.  We can experience a very real sense of zeal because we have the answers to so many questions of life.  Our calling should be a calling of zeal, but what does that mean in practical terms in the here and now? 

God inspired the Apostle Paul to use the analogy of the human body.  We have roles and training now in order to be a valuable part of His Body (1 Corinthians 12:1-31).  We are not all a toe, or a hand, or an eye - and yet all are necessary and all are part of the body.  Where is our place in the body?  What is our role?  Without knowing the answers to these types of questions, how can we have zeal?  How can we be excited about the calling God has given us and the family we are surrounded by?

Jesus Christ had a zeal for doing the will of the Father (John 2:16-17 - quoting Ps. 69:9).  The word "zeal" in that verse is "zelos" and means: heat, ardor (emotional warmth), jealousy, emulation, fervent mind.  We don't often think of zeal in terms of being jealous.  But if we think in terms of being married to Christ, we should be jealous for Him, exclusive to Him, focused on Him, above all else and others.  We should have, and need to have, a heat - a fervency - to our calling and relationship to God.

To make this personal, ask yourself this question: What will I do to instill zeal and a sense of urgency in the Church?  What do our hands find to do spiritually (Ecclesiastes 9:10)?  What is our vision - for this church, for us and our place in it (Proverbs 29:18)?  What do we seek first and above all else (Matthew 6:33)?  For us to seek anything, we must have a desire.  Does God and His way of life come first in all areas of our life?  If not, why not?  Is it vital to us to prove what the Church of God teaches from Scripture, so we are grounded in God's truth?

How well do we encourage one another (Hebrews 10:23-25)?  The Greek word here has the meaning of "inciting".  Our English word means: to encourage, or urge on; stimulate or prompt to action.  How well do we urge each other on in our callings?  How well do we remind ourselves (and others) to act on what God has revealed and promised to us?  Do we have a zeal to set the right example (John 13:35)?  Do we strive to truly love one another?  How do we show our love for each other?

Every part of our calling is about showing God how much we want the salvation and eternal life He is offering.  A major part of our calling is showing the world what God's way of life looks like.  We set an example to the world (which was the whole point of what God expected of Israel), we set an example to one another, we live God's way of life in a world hostile to that life, and we support a physical work to present Christ's Gospel message to that hostile world.  We set an example in overcoming sin, of growing in grace and knowledge, and of striving for righteousness.  Every one of us has this role to play in our own way - this might be through encouragement, or hospitality, our physical service, or teaching, or any number of other ways. 

What is our vision?  What drives our zeal?  Are we ready to move forward?  The choice is ours.  Is zeal important enough in our calling to give this way of life everything we can?  Let's live our calling with zeal - and who knows where God can take us.  Let's live God's way of life like we mean it.

I wish you a wonderful and profitable Sabbath,

Dan Dowd

21 October, 2022