ZEAL WITH KNOWLEDGE

“It is not good to have zeal without knowledge, nor to be hasty and miss the way.” (Proverbs 19:2, NIV)

There is a very powerful and common sense lesson highlighted in this passage. Being zealous is an important element in whatever we do, but it is not sufficient. Zeal and ignorance in any setting is not a good mix. It is actually a dangerous cocktail…!

 A person may be full of enthusiasm and willingness yet, if they lack knowledge, their performance will ultimately be hurt by their ignorance.

In particular, knowledge of God’s word is the foundation of all successful Christian effort, given that the Word is our only authority and guide in Christian living. God has not given us His Word for mere intellectual stimulation; rather He has given it to us, more importantly, as a life manual or a guide to living the new life we have in Christ, and to know Him.

As Apostle Paul was keen to point out, Israel had not responded to the revelation of Christ neither embraced Him as the author of the New Covenant and therefore pursued their own righteousness instead of the revealed righteousness of God. His concern overflowed in a prayer for their salvation in which he testified that:

“… they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. Since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes. ” (Romans 10:1–4, NIV)

They did not turn in obedience to God’s revealed purpose, or in acceptance of His revealed love.
Jesus said to the Samaritan woman “You worship what you do not know.” But He did not leave it at that; He instructed her on what she needs to know in order to worship God acceptably:

“But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” ” (John 4:22–24, ESV)

What Jesus is teaching us here is that it is not enough to be zealous about worshipping God, but we must also know “how” He wants to be worshipped. We cannot serve God well if we don’t know how!

Nothing hurts God’s people more than lack of knowledge (or ignorance). It robs the believer of God’s blessings. Consequently one of the most important prayers you will ever pray is a prayer expressing your desire to know God and understand what His will is.

To be zealous without knowledge is not good. So add knowledge to your zeal; study the scriptures to understand the will of God, and then respond in obedience to the light you have received. Submit to God's righteousness, worship Him with knowledge!

Comments

Pastor Victor C Ubani said…
Knowledge of the truth is not just power but "empowers" us to achieve the potential of our lives and to positively impact the lives of others.
6 August 2011 at 13:19
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

OUR SUFFICIENCY

“I am the LORD your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it .” Psalms 81:10 This passage speaks eloquently also and with relevance to us, who have been called out of darkness and into God's marvellous light, about our relationship with our redeemer. The LORD our God is not out-dated and He is certainly not incapable. He is timeless and still all powerful; as gracious today, merciful, loving, and just as He ever was. The Lord our God who delivered Israel from Egypt is the same God who died for our sins and rose again for our justification. He is the same yesterday, today and forever; a jealous God who demands the loyalty of His people and will not share His glory. Furthermore, we are reminded that the Lord is our sufficiency: “Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it” ! These words conjure up the image of a nest full young hungry birds with their mouths open wide waiting expectantly for their parents to stuff them full with food. T
Read more

TRIED AND PURIFIED

"For you, O God, have tested us; you have tried us as silver is tried." ( Psalm 66:10 ) One of the certainties of our relationship with God is that our confidence in Him will be tested, tried and purified. God’s love for His children means that He also wants us to be purified. This will require trying and testing. The symbolism of our reflection passage is very interesting. Silver, an impressive shinny precious metal starts out as a lump of earth mixed with traces of silver ore. But soon it goes through a fiery refining process and from the other end emerges a precious metal. The adversities, obstacles and challenges you face in life are the furnace of life in which you are being tried and tested, and the contaminants removed just as silver is tried and purified in the furnace of fire to extract that spotless piece of valuable metal with a sheen that can never be tarnished.  It is never comfortable when we face these oppositions, but they bring out the best in us. And w
Read more

FIRST THINGS FIRST

“Finish your outdoor work and get your fields ready; after that, build your house”. (Proverbs 24:27) There is order in life. No successful completion can emerge from an ill-conceived foundation. God is not the author of confusion. The wisdom of the passage of our focus in today’s reflection is this: It impresses upon us the value of carefully planning and organising our day as opposed to simply jumping at the first thing that grabs our attention. There is a time for everything and each must be done in its proper season. First, get the fields ready and get all the outdoor preparation for cultivation done as the planting season approaches. Next, it is then time to build the house. The implication is obvious: God is interested in how we use our time. God challenges us to daily set our priorities right. Failing this, we will find ourselves jumping from one thing to the next without any goal, and at the end of the day, our busyness would not have translated to anything of significance
Read more