Eaten Me Up
Psalm 69:9: “Because zeal (passion) for Your house has eaten me up.”
Take the last three words of the abovementioned scripture and say it a little slower and with emphasis. Eaten. Me. Up! Zeal and passion for Your house, oh God, has consumed me! These are the strong words of King David, our brother, when he was in the midst of a fierce trial waged by his so-called friends, as well as his enemies. David was very much frustrated with what he was seeing around him. He was living in a world, much like the world we live in today, where unrighteousness reigned so much! He wasn’t planning on taking it lying down by any means. He boldly declared to God what motivated him and what drove him each and every day: “Zeal (passion) for Your house has eaten me up!”
When was the last time you were truly passionate about God? Can you remember how and what that felt like? Was it when you first came into contact with the Bible and the truths found inside it? Was it when you confirmed your commitment to living God’s way of life and accepted Christ as your Savior through baptism? Was it after a trial that God delivered you from? Was it after suffering consequences of straying from the straight and narrow, repenting, and stating that we would never do that again? For me, I ask myself it if was during my time at Ambassador Bible Center, while being surrounded for 8 months with people of like mind and with teachers who taught me the precious truths found in God’s word.
Has zeal and passion for God’s house eaten you up? Has it consumed you?! Do every cell and fiber of our being live for and to serve the awesome Lord God and His people? Do we bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ? (2 Corinthians 10:5). Are we a passionate people, alive and with a heart of flesh or are our hearts made of stone and have waxed cold as we go through the doldrums of this life? When was the last time you were truly passionate about God that it ate you up, it consumed you?
Either you are passionate or you’re not. There’s no middle ground! In Revelation 3:15, Jesus Christ said, “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. 16So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold not hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.”
What a powerful warning for us today! God desires us to be on fire for His heart. To be a people of passion and zeal, eaten up and consumed, by the thoughts of His Kingdom!
The life of Christ was undoubtedly a life filled with passion and zeal. It was displayed in the compassion He had for people, in the instruction He gave—which at times were given gently and at times very sternly—and most importantly on that cross. “For the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2). He had zeal, passion, and joy for what His death would bring to this dead world.
There was one account in His life where enough was enough. He was filled with the Spirit, it consumed Him and He exploded with righteous anger!
“13Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14And He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers doing business. 15When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers’ money and overturned the tables. 16And He said to those who sold doves, ‘Take these things away! Do not make My Father’s house a house of merchandise!’ 17Then His disciples remembered that it was written, ‘Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up’” (John 2:13, emphasis added).
How about us? Has zeal and passion for God’s house eaten us up? I’m talking about the house, the temple inside each of us where God and Christ lives. Are we zealous about driving the sins that have ensnared us out of our lives? Are we passionate about overturning bad habits and addictions and replacing them with new, holy, and acceptable ones? Are we—the proclaimed followers of Christ—so eaten up and consumed with the Spirit of God that we purge out of us all evil thoughts and selfish ambitions, replacing them with the thoughts and desires of our God!?
“Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. 9The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you” (Philippians 4:8).
How are we doing?
There’s another aspect of the house of God that I’d like to touch upon: “But Christ, as the Son, is in charge of God's entire house. And we are God's house,if we keep our courage and remain confident in our hope in Christ (Hebrews 3:6, NLT). We—all of us who have committed our lives to God—are God’s house, and we have to be eaten up and passionate about one another’s zeal! We have a responsibility to stir up good works and thoughts in the house of God and with our neighbor. Those who are strong must help the weak! I know I’m weak at times and I am thankful that I’m part of a house of God with strong members (yeah, you!) who are willing to help each other and exhibit more than just superficial care and concern.
Being passionate and zealous about God’s house is the attitude God desires in each of us! It must consume us from the inside out! He doesn’t want lukewarm, He wants a passionate and zealous people who are on fire! People who desire to know His word, to know His heart and to instill it into their lives. And then, to help others when the opportunity arises. Let’s continue to stir up that passion and zeal for God’s house in each other and spread it like a wildfire! As our brother Paul would close, “Grace and peace be yours in abundance.”
