The One Thing

John 2:15-17 Zeal

John 2 begins with the description of the wedding at Cana. Jesus went to a wedding. He took His disciples with Him. His mother was also invited. They ran out of wine. He turned water into good wine. he turned a lot of water into good wine. Of course the wine was good. God is good and anything provided by God is good, even when it is for entertainment. Because God delights in our joy. He wants us to rejoice all the time in the assurance of His love, His providence. But this providence is not the one thing I learn over here. We see here an image of a benevolent God but that is not the only face of God we need to be aware of. Zeal-passion. Somehow the picture of an ideal Christian is this sedated individual, calm, meek and a complete doormat. Meek, yes I understand but Jesus was no doormat. He knew when to raise the voice when needed. He displays here something which scholars call righteous anger. Jesus got angry when it came to defiling the House of His Father. Then why do we keep quiet at injustice in a Church? Jesus didn't mind walking up to the money changers with a whip of cord and driving them out. He didn't do it discretely. He was consumed with passion and He acted on it. There is a fine line between being meek and people-pleasing. We become humble when we are relying on God. But that stokes our love for Him. He loved us enough to be incarnated in the flesh and die for out sins. Can't we love Him enough to speak up about the things that we find around us that disrespect Him. When we feel that great impulse to thank God in a secular surrounding, why does the zeal for His glory not consume us? Why are we so much bothered with those around us? They praise their idols all the time. But we are Christians. We should be meek? Well if we follow our Saviour's example...-not all the time. Zeal for His house, His Name, His Glory, His Righteousness should consume us too. We are called to be imitators of Christ after all.