Are you zealous for God..

The zeal towards God defines our relationship with God. People who are zealous for God mostly have a good relationship with the Almighty. Greater the anointing of God greater will be the zeal for God. If one loses the anointing, he will eventually lose his zeal.

The zeal that comes under pressure.

Jonathan said to his young armor-bearer, “Come, let’s go over to the outpost of those uncircumcised fellows. Perhaps the Lord will act on our behalf. Nothing can hinder the Lord from saving, whether by many or by few.” 1 Samuel 14:6 

When Philistines tried to defeat Israel, they came with a plan to stop the production of weapons in the land of Israel. Somehow, they brought all the blacksmiths of Israel to Philistine. Only two swords were found in Israel. One was with King Saul and the other was with Prince Jonathan. For many days Philistine threatened Israel and brave soldiers went into hiding. They hid themselves in caves and holes of mountains.

Jonathan got frustrated by the daily threatening and decided to strike. He believed that if God wanted to save Israel, He could save them by many or by few. Sometimes in our lives too we may get frustrated by the enemy and that results us being zealous towards God. The daily taunting of the enemy will encourage us to take a step towards God. And yes, God will help us to conquer the enemy. God always waits for that small step people would take for Him. The small courageous step that Jonathan took created a panic in Philistine. He only killed twenty people in that camp but that was enough for God to put the enemy down.

The zeal that comes from other’s zeal

Saul was anointed by Samuel to be the King of Israel. The manner of his anointing outlined the way he would live from then on. “After that you will go to Gibeah of God, where there is a Philistine outpost. As you approach the town, you will meet a procession of prophets coming down from the high place with lyres, tambourines, flutes and harps being played before them, and they will be prophesying. The Spirit of the Lord will come upon you in power, and you will prophesy with them; and you will be changed into a different person. 1 Samuel 10:5,6

This is how Saul got the anointing. The anointing did transform him into a different person. He was zealous at first but then he lost it. After that he started faking his zeal. Maybe that’s why Jonathan did not tell Saul about his intention to strike the Philistine. Because when someone is ready to do something, Saul tries to take control of him. He needs the zeal of others to build some zeal in himself. When he comes to know Jonathan attacked Philistine, he immediately makes the Israel take the unnecessary oath, to show how zealous he is for God. When he got to know that some David is ready to face Goliath he immediately calls for David. As his anointing, he always waits for people coming from high places, or those who recently received an anointing, to inflame some passion in himself.

The Zeal that comes from anointing.

When Saul got the anointing, he was fervent for God. But when he lost the anointing, he lost his zeal. David was anointed and he was so zealous that he was ready to face Goliath. A young boy defeated the giant because of this anointing. For forty days Goliath taunted Israel but no one was ready to confront him. God did not wait for David to come to the scenario. But he waited for forty days to see whether Saul would react. This is where the real zeal for God is differentiated.

People who got the zeal under pressure may need some more time to react. The people who need others’ zeal will wait for someone to come to their rescue. However, the people with the real zeal will not look for anything or anyone but as soon as they hear someone defying the army of God, they will run towards the problem to finish it off.

These are the three different zeal we can get when we follow God. The people who got the zeal under pressure and the people who received the zeal under anointing will become one in spirit after some time just as Jonathan and David became one. But alas! Saul who needed David, did not become one in spirit. Which one are you? All three zealous arrows are kept in the QUIVER OF GOD.