Christ Leads The Way

“Who gave himself for us that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.” – Titus 2:14

Hey, good people! And to that one reader: “Thank-you for everything you did for me. I pray for you all the good that God can bestow.”

The Lord is so good to me. He’s good to us all. And He wants us to be like Him. He created us to be “His own special people, zealous for good works” (Titus 2:14). Zeal simply means having a deep concern, enthusiasm, or a strong, fervent desire. God’s desire is for us to have a zeal for Him that allows us to love Him with all our heart, all our soul, all our strength, and all our might.

But He wants that zeal to be according to the knowledge of His word so that we won’t be ignorant of His righteousness (Rom. 10:1-3). Remember that Jesus said, “Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name, cast out demons in your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And I will declare to them, I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’” (Matt. 7:22-23).

So, we see that it’s not enough to have zeal for God, we have to be obedient to His will (Matt. 7:21). And the only way to know what He wants us to do is to read and learn His word.

Let’s not let our zeal be in vain and consider how zealous Jesus was, so that we might be zealous like Him.

Jesus was zealous for God’s house. Remember when he was 12 years old and in the temple. Jesus told His parents that He must be about His Father’s business (Luke 2:49). And when He turned over the tables of those who were exchanging money in the temple, “His disciples remembered that it was written, ‘Zeal for your house has eaten Me up!’” (John 2:17). The Lord was and is serious about God’s house.

Are you also zealous for the house of God, which is His church, the pillar and ground of truth (1 Tim. 3:15)?

Do you attend services every time the church meets (Heb. 10:25)? Do you show compassion towards members of His body? Do you contend for the truth about God’s church – the oneness, uniqueness, and unity of it?

If we want to be set apart as His own special people, then we must be zealous for the house of God.

Christ was also zealous in doing good. Acts 10:38 speaks of “how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.” Jesus committed Himself to doing good works, and He created us for good works (Eph. 2:10). So we should be enthusiastic and fervent in doing them.

The Lord was also zealous in His obedience to God. Jesus said in John 9:4, “I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work.” He was all about doing the Father’s will. He even said that what sustained Him was to do the will of Him who sent Him and to finish His work (John 4:34).

Can we say the same thing? That doing God’s will and being obedient to Him sustains us? I can. I hope that you can, too. Honoring and serving my God and Savior is what keeps me going. It’s my fuel for navigating through the, sometimes rough, terrain of life. The Lord wants us to have a deep and fervent desire for carrying out His will.

God’s will is that no person perishes but that all will come to repentance (2 Pet. 3:9). The way that we carry out His will that we be saved is to obey the gospel. We do that by believing that Jesus is Lord, repenting of our sins, confessing that Jesus is Lord, and being baptized for the forgiveness of our sins. If we do that, the Lord will add us to His church.

Do you want to be zealous for God like Jesus? If so, don’t wait too late.

Let’s be zealous for what is right.

“As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent.” – Rev. 3:19

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