Devotion for Today "My Zeal Has Consumed Me" Psalm 119:137-140
A new missionary recruit went to Venezuela for the first time. He was
struggling with the language and didn't understand a whole lot of
what was going on. Intending to visit one of the local churches, he
got lost, but eventually got back on track and found the place.
Having arrived late, the church was already packed. The only pew left
was the one on the front row. So as not to make a fool of himself, he
decided to pick someone out of the crowd to imitate. He chose to follow the man sitting next to
him on the front pew. As they sang, the man clapped his hands, so the
missionary recruit clapped too. When the man stood up to pray, the
missionary recruit stood up too. When the man sat down, he sat down.
When the man held the cup and bread for the Lord's Supper, he held
the cup and bread. During the preaching, the recruit didn't
understand a thing. He just sat there and tried to look just like
that man in the front pew. Then he perceived that the preacher was
giving announcements. People clapped, so he looked to see if the man
was clapping. He was, and so the recruit clapped too. Then the preacher said some words that he
didn't understand and he saw the man next to him stand up. So he
stood up too. Suddenly a hush fell over the entire congregation. A
few people gasped. He looked around and saw that nobody else was
standing. So he sat down.
After the service ended, the preacher stood at the door shaking the
hands of those who were leaving. When the missionary recruit
stretched out his hand to greet the preacher, the preacher said, in
English: "I take it you don't speak Spanish." The missionary recruit
replied: "No I don't. It's that obvious?"
"Well yes," said the preacher, "I announced that the Acosta family
had a newborn baby boy and would the proud father please stand up."
You have to admit that while the missionary didn't know what he was
doing, it didn't keep him from doing God's work and going about it
the best way he could, trying to understand what was going on around
him even though he risked looking foolish. I can certainly understand
this, living in a land where I don't always know what is going on. It
is good to know all that you can, and not just "jump in blindly" so
to speak. But there are times that the passion from God causes us to
have to do just that when we may not know all we feel we should know,
and then trust God for the results. That is where we find the greatest
blessings God could ever bring.
In our Scripture passage today we continue with Psalm 119. The psalmist
says in verse 139 "My zeal has consumed me, because my adversaries have
forgotten Thy words." Jesus actually quoted this passage to justify
His cleansing of the Temple and turning over the tables of the money-
changers. This is not "zeal with knowledge." This is clearly zeal-
passion, that is not only informed, but decisive. There are times
when people who are informed who refuse to do the right thing or
ignore the right thing because they don't want to "make waves." So,
they allow themselves to be intimidated into going along just so that
they can make everyone happy. In that sense, they-like the psalmist's
adversaries, forget what God has said just so that they can go with
the flow of popular thinking. Knowledge is good, but if a person who
possesses it is not strong enough to practice it or act upon it, he
may just as well be ignorant. Being bold enough, and passionate
about the knowledge that we possess to follow through with its demands
is what counts. That is what Jesus demonstrated to us- zeal with
knowledge that was passionate about it to do something about it and to
take a stand. I find it interesting that noone opposed Jesus when he
did such a daring, brazen act.
As I look back over my life there have been many times where I only
wish that I had dared to take stands that I was afraid to take. Those
feelings of regret are worse are worse now than the fear of consequences
I dreaded then for taking the right course of action. Has the zeal and
passion of God consumed you today? That is as clear a sign that you
will ever have that God is leading you to do something He has already
revealed to You in His Word. Better to act on it now, than to regret
that you didn't do it later.
Have a blessed day.
A new missionary recruit went to Venezuela for the first time. He was
struggling with the language and didn't understand a whole lot of
what was going on. Intending to visit one of the local churches, he
got lost, but eventually got back on track and found the place.
Having arrived late, the church was already packed. The only pew left
was the one on the front row. So as not to make a fool of himself, he
decided to pick someone out of the crowd to imitate. He chose to follow the man sitting next to
him on the front pew. As they sang, the man clapped his hands, so the
missionary recruit clapped too. When the man stood up to pray, the
missionary recruit stood up too. When the man sat down, he sat down.
When the man held the cup and bread for the Lord's Supper, he held
the cup and bread. During the preaching, the recruit didn't
understand a thing. He just sat there and tried to look just like
that man in the front pew. Then he perceived that the preacher was
giving announcements. People clapped, so he looked to see if the man
was clapping. He was, and so the recruit clapped too. Then the preacher said some words that he
didn't understand and he saw the man next to him stand up. So he
stood up too. Suddenly a hush fell over the entire congregation. A
few people gasped. He looked around and saw that nobody else was
standing. So he sat down.
After the service ended, the preacher stood at the door shaking the
hands of those who were leaving. When the missionary recruit
stretched out his hand to greet the preacher, the preacher said, in
English: "I take it you don't speak Spanish." The missionary recruit
replied: "No I don't. It's that obvious?"
"Well yes," said the preacher, "I announced that the Acosta family
had a newborn baby boy and would the proud father please stand up."
You have to admit that while the missionary didn't know what he was
doing, it didn't keep him from doing God's work and going about it
the best way he could, trying to understand what was going on around
him even though he risked looking foolish. I can certainly understand
this, living in a land where I don't always know what is going on. It
is good to know all that you can, and not just "jump in blindly" so
to speak. But there are times that the passion from God causes us to
have to do just that when we may not know all we feel we should know,
and then trust God for the results. That is where we find the greatest
blessings God could ever bring.
In our Scripture passage today we continue with Psalm 119. The psalmist
says in verse 139 "My zeal has consumed me, because my adversaries have
forgotten Thy words." Jesus actually quoted this passage to justify
His cleansing of the Temple and turning over the tables of the money-
changers. This is not "zeal with knowledge." This is clearly zeal-
passion, that is not only informed, but decisive. There are times
when people who are informed who refuse to do the right thing or
ignore the right thing because they don't want to "make waves." So,
they allow themselves to be intimidated into going along just so that
they can make everyone happy. In that sense, they-like the psalmist's
adversaries, forget what God has said just so that they can go with
the flow of popular thinking. Knowledge is good, but if a person who
possesses it is not strong enough to practice it or act upon it, he
may just as well be ignorant. Being bold enough, and passionate
about the knowledge that we possess to follow through with its demands
is what counts. That is what Jesus demonstrated to us- zeal with
knowledge that was passionate about it to do something about it and to
take a stand. I find it interesting that noone opposed Jesus when he
did such a daring, brazen act.
As I look back over my life there have been many times where I only
wish that I had dared to take stands that I was afraid to take. Those
feelings of regret are worse are worse now than the fear of consequences
I dreaded then for taking the right course of action. Has the zeal and
passion of God consumed you today? That is as clear a sign that you
will ever have that God is leading you to do something He has already
revealed to You in His Word. Better to act on it now, than to regret
that you didn't do it later.
Have a blessed day.
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