What Consumes Us?

What consumes Us?

In John 2, we find a fascinating account of Jesus entering the temple courts of Jerusalem and erupting in anger and frustration with those who were dishonoring God through the financial abuse of their neighbors.  He overturned their tables and drove the moneychangers out with a whip.  Most people would have said that this was neither his job nor his place to do such a thing, but “his disciples remembered that it was written, ‘Zeal for your house will consume me’” (John 2:17).

Zeal will cause us to do a lot of things that look crazy to our contemporaries.  If you’re not familiar with what “zeal” is, a thesaurus would give synonyms like “passion, diligence, spirit, devotion, intensity, urgency.”  Zeal is the opposite of inactivity, neglect, dullness, indifference, lethargy.  We all know—even just by common sense—which of these the Lord wants from us.  But why?

Being zealous can easily be misunderstood.  Being intense comes with a potential high price tag of burnout and rejection.  Pushing one another toward the seemingly impossible standard we have (Eph. 4:11-13) in Christ can come across as expecting too much.  This is what it takes, however, to run the race in a way that enables us to win the prize (1 Cor. 9:24).

Christianity, however, is not an individual sport; it is a team experience.  We do it together as part of the same body, same household, same living temple of the Holy Spirit.  And if any of us are not pulling our weight, the whole body suffers malnourishment.  The whole team is slowed down and loses whatever momentum it once had.  The whole family begins to weaken through irritation, impatience, and neglect.  And the Lord won’t have that.  He loves us too much.  The Holy Spirit has built us up to be his house, and he is still zealous for it.

— Patrick Barber 

Digging Deeper:

1. Based on how you use your time and resources, what is it that consumes you?
2. What might it look like when we “hunger and thirst for righteousness?”
3. Why does the pursuit of excellence matter in our kingdom mission?
4. What are some things we’ve learned in life that can help us increase our devotion and dedication to the Lord and his work?