Zeal

Romans 10:2

John 2:13-17

Paul is testifying to the Jews' zeal itself as a positive thing, just as Jesus' zeal for the Temple was positive. Unfortunately, their zeal is toward the wrong goal. Rather than focused on the Lord's Will, they formed their own and called it His.
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Zeal has changed nations and transformed history, for better and for worse. Few would say that Hitler's zeal improved anyone's life, yet zeal has also helped individuals to stand up for human rights, to influence nations to set slaves free, and to speak up for those too beaten down to speak for themselves.While the Nazis used their zeal for a nation's dominance to destroy millions, other individuals used their zeal to fight against the destruction and save millions more. Zeal motivates us to work for somebody and something outside of ourselves, to overcome our lazy, selfish tendencies and work toward something better. Yet we must take care to have zeal for the right Person and the right cause or what we are working toward is a world much worse than the one we live in. Anyone can have zeal; that motivating force oriented in the wrong direction will only bring death and deprivation.
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Are you zealous? Who or what are you zealous for? One way to ensure that your zeal is appropriate, is to bring it to the Lord through prayer. Ask Him to transform it, and you, according to His will. We don't want to be marked by the zeal of the Jews, nor of Hitler, nor of numerous other zealots throughout history. We do however want zeal to motivate us to overcome (with the Holy Spirit) our natural sins and work for a much greater cause than our personal well-being.