After lathering a customer up for a shave and having his cut-throat-shaving razor in hand, a Christian barber asked his customer if he was ready to meet his Maker. The barber looked dumbfounded, as his shaving cream-laden, barber’s cape-wearing client sprinted out of his shop. Some believers are zealous in their faith—perhaps too much for some. But as the years pass, the converse is too often true for Christians. This loss of passion was the charge Jesus brought against the Laodicean church (Revelation 3:16). Sometimes there’s a lifelong trajectory from zealous convert to apathetic churchgoer. But, at the very least, all of us are familiar with the lifelong oscillation between lukewarmness and passion, apathy and zeal.
How do we nurture holy fire and stave off apathy?
We can start our morning with the scriptures and devotion. Only, as the day gathers momentum, busyness and connectedness tyrannise us. Our focus on Jesus wanes. We can be like chameleons whose hue changes as they move about. Paul was spot on when he wrote, “I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing” (Romans 7:19). Yet this did not stop him from later imploring the Roman church, “Do not be slothful in zeal” (Romans 12:11). He challenged them to not waver by being conformed to the pattern of this world, but to be transformed by the renewing of their minds (Romans 12:1-2).
Your Zeal Will Wane
The word “zeal” speaks of intensity or energy in pursuing a cause or an objective. Regarding passion for God’s glory, a striking example in the scriptures is David. He sang of zeal for God’s name consuming him. The KJV translates his words, “the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up” (Psalm 69:9). It is no wonder that God called him a man after his own heart. When he faced Goliath, it was because the colossal soldier was defying the armies of his living God (1 Samuel 17:45). At other times, David danced unashamedly before the Lord—even if his wife felt embarrassed by his exuberance (2 Samuel 6:16). David knew that if his worship did not cost him anything, then it was of no value in God’s sight (2 Samuel 24:24).
Even David experienced times in a spiritual desert, a ‘dry and weary land where there is no water.’
Yet even David experienced times in a spiritual desert, a “dry and weary land where there is no water” (Psalm 63:1). At critical times, apathy and sin prevailed (2 Samuel 11). Zeal returned after heartfelt repentance (Psalm 51). David had flaws. Ultimately his life pointed to the need for an authentic, pure, and perfect king of Israel, one whose heart did not waver and whose zeal didn’t oscillate.
You Need the Zealous Saviour
Early in Jesus’ ministry, a passion for God’s name, house and glory led to a confrontation with the religious leaders of his day. Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who were trading. He tipped over the tables of the money changers and other merchants. He challenged them with the words, “My house shall be called a house of prayer, but you make it a den of robbers” (Matthew 21:12-13). The disciples would later recall that Jesus’ zeal mirrored, fulfilled, and perfected David’s (John 2:17). At the end of Jesus’ earthly pilgrimage, his zeal, jealousy, and passion for God’s glory and name drove him to the cross at Calvary.
At the end of Jesus’ earthly pilgrimage, his zeal for God’s glory drove him to the cross.
Why do we run hot and cold in our faith? When unnurtured, our spiritual lives seem to follow Newton’s Second Law of Thermodynamics, tending to a state of disorder, like an unkempt garden. Weeds, like sin, do not need an invitation. Robert Robertson captured the nature of our hearts when he wrote, “Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it; Prone to leave the God I love.” Ironically, Robinson himself later wandered from the faith. He backslid. He was brought back to sincere faith by a lady impressing on him the beauty and truth of the words he had penned earlier in his life.
Look to God
How do we nurture holy fire and stave off apathy in 2024? Keep exposing yourself to the means of grace, whether the sun is shining in your life or you are experiencing a complete solar eclipse. Cling to your faith (Psalm 63:8). Continue your private reading of God’s word and prayer, even when they seem ineffectual. Go to church. Meet with believers. Share in the Lord’s Supper. Speak to yourself—no, preach to yourself not to lose hope (Psalm 42:5). Keep serving. Keep striving. God is faithful, and the tide will turn.
Keep exposing yourself to the means of grace.
God delights in restoring the years that the locust has eaten (Joel 2:25). Praise Jesus in your spiritual desert, despite the barrenness. The oasis of living water will come. Your assurance that you are known and at peace with your Maker will return.
