Ps 69:8-9 "I am a stranger to my brothers, an alien to my own mother's sons; 9 for zeal for your house consumes me, and the insults of those who insult you fall on me." NIV
Passion for Jesus is the great dividing line in this life. What are you passionate about? What makes your heart burn? It is passion that separates mediocrity from a life of excellence, a life of vision. The Psalmist is speaking with a prophetic spirit in this passage as he speaks of his own zeal but is announcing the fire that would burn within the heart of the Lord Jesus Christ. After driving the money changers out of the temple Jesus’ disciples remembered this verse as a prophetic statement about the passion that would drive the Messiah. This image of the fiery hearted savior burning with holy offense at the hypocrisy that was polluting the temple through the actions of the money changers surfaces another significant principle of rightly directed zeal. “The things that offend you are a reflection of what you are truly zealous about!” If the condition of the poor offends you, it is a token of your heart values. If the state of the church or the typical family is a burden to your spirit then that is where your zeal is centered. The common problem arises however when we discover that most people are not offended by such noble issues. True zeal is reflected by offense at the unjust or unholy conditions affecting the world around us that move our hearts to action, but many people carry little zeal for such issues. Their offense is primarily self centered not other centered and most often flows out of self-indulgent desires that others fail to provide for them; simply wanting and not getting! Paul lifts our eyes to a higher standard in Rom 12:11 as he challenges us to “Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.”
The Lord was not understood by the members of his own household for a significant portion of His earthly ministry and much of this revolved around their perspectives in this very area. At one point his passion marked him so completely in the minds of his relatives that they considered the possibility that he had gone mad! At still another point of diverging from the common understanding of ministry found in John chapter seven his brothers are confused by his unwillingness to go and present himself publicly at the feast. Their concept of self-promotion was in direct conflict to the values system that lay behind Jesus’ zeal. His only ambition to be known was in context of the will of God. He was unwilling to “push” himself to the top of the pile using his great oratory skills and miraculous power. He was fully submitted to the will of the father in both destination and timing! His burning heart and surrendered agenda set Him apart in his own generation and for all generations to come.
How has your passion marked you in this life!? Are you living in a way that sets you apart from the crowd? We are called to be leaders in life! It is God’s desire to fill our hearts with a vision of Him that so compels us to live with a whole heart that we become an example to all of those who would be drawn to the fire that pours from our hearts. A life lived with passion causes people to have to make choices. The more completely we live for the high calling of God the more we become a sign post for the values and heart of God and others are faced with a direct revelation of the blemishes that mark both heart and mind in comparison to the purity of the Lord that is our standard and our goal!
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