Smart Zeal

PROVERBS 19:2

It is not good to have zeal without knowledge, nor to be hasty and miss the way.


There is nothing on earth that compares to the feeling you have when you first accept Christ as Lord and Savior. The excitement inside you feels like it could explode at any moment. Everyone around you notices that you are glowing. You are on top of the world.

We should feel like that no matter how long we have been saved. Unfortunately we can tend to allow the world's stresses to taint our fervor.

With the excitement of something new, whether it be our salvation, a new job, a new idea, we should never jump into an action or belief without knowledge. I have seen many people allow their zeal to overtake them and they say things or make decisions without the proper training.

For example, my husband and I met a young man a while back. His excitement and fervor was what we needed in our ministry. We needed someone who was willing to jump in and begin building the kingdom, and that he did.

In our lack of experience we didn't discern that this young man was far from educated in the Word inspite of his fervor. Oh, he loved the Lord. He desired to minister. But his lack of knowledge and wisdom quickly found him in trouble. The decisions he made were far from wise.

Needless to say we had a mess to clean up after we sent him on his way. Why did we send him away? He was unteachable. His zeal got in the way. He had become the all-powerful, all-knowing 20 year old that we didn't notice when we first met him.

We need to be zealous for God. Walking around like the character of Eeyore in Whinnie the Pooh trying to win souls for Christ will not entice anyone. But we must allow ourselves to be educated in the Word. Our zeal is not enough. It is too easy to take on a doctrine that is not from God and spread it like wildfire, later to find out we were wrong. It is dangerous...to us and to those who hear it and believe.

Desire God's Word with as much zeal as you had when you first accepted Christ as Lord and Savior. Make sure that what you profess and how you live is backed up with the Word of God. And if one wiser than you rebukes you for a wrong belief, then be willing to accept the rebuke. God Bless~