Choose You This Day Who You Will Serve
This legacy of Zeal and the Exclusive Worship of our great and mighty God, Jehovah, has been passed down to the faithful followers of Christ.
These are passionate, they are filled with purpose, and they give their all to the object of their love.
The act of zeal behind this passionate love and service to God is a theme that we see throughout the Bible. If there is no love and no worship, then there is no relationship between the “self-defined” worshiper and the God that they believe that they worship.
The most magnificent worshiper that is represented in the new testament, is Mary Magdalen. Do you remember when she was at a dinner in Galilee, how she react to the presence of Christ, the Savior?
Mary ignored every other guest in this home, while she gave her honest and pure affection to Jesus. In fact, she washed his feet with her own tears.
When this act of adoration was witnessed by everyone else in the room, they were taken aback. Why? Simply put, it was because Mary, a woman who had a reputation as a common whore in the town, would take the Masters’ shoes off and wash his feet with her hair. This was seen as borderline, if not full on, sin.
In fact, why would a Holy Man of God allow a known prostitute, to wash His feet? In fact, she washed his feet with her own hair.
From the perspective of the other guests in the room, nothing could be more sinful than that. Yet when the woman served Him with pure honor, Christ allowed it with no questions, and in fact, no objections.
Why did He allow her to serve Him? I believe that it was simply because she threw all caution aside and honored the Lord of Glory. In fact, I believe that she had great discernment and whether she knew Christ was the Lord of Glory, she had no doubt discerned that He was an extraordinary Man of God!
In fact, I do not believe that she had even given notice to any other people in the room. No! Mary Magdalene ignored the wealthy and powerful people who had come for the dinner, and she lavished her passion on the man that she later discovered was Jesus surely was the Son of God!
She had one singular focus! She was now in the presence of Christ, the Lord. He was, in fact the Man that had raised Lazarus from the dead. He was, in fact, like no man that she had ever met!
Because Mary Magdalene was able to discern the presence of Heavenly Royalty, she ignored every other man of renown who filled the chairs at the table before them.
In fact, Mary Magdalene took the finest, most costly ointment that she could lay hold of, and she proceeded to washed the Masters’ feet. She did not wash his feet with ordinary soap and water. She laid hold of the best and most expensive ointment that she herself owned. In fact, I believe that that ointment was extremely valuable, and that it was most likely a treasure that she had held on for quite sometime.
What was the response of the “aristocrats” in the room? Of course, they were appalled. Judas himself was in the room. How did He respond? “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred pence and given to the poor?”
In other words, there was a significant objection to the sacrificial offering that Mary Magdalene had poured out onto the Lord, the Savior of All Humanity.
There can be no doubt that God Himself, is a Jealous God and He Deserves our Deepest Worship…in fact it was we, the God Created Beings, that have been put on this earth to worship Him and Him alone.
In fact, it would not, or should not, be excessive if the entire world shut down every business, every meeting, every doctor’s appointment, every pleasure exploration, in order to take a day, a week, or a month, to worship the Lord of Glory.
You may object, because in your mind this is excessive, and you would lose money? You should always know that the exclusive worship of Christ our Savior, will certainly be rewarded in this life, and after this life is over, worshipers will be rewarded throughout all eternity!
Further, I believe that any and all sacrifices that have been lavished upon Christ, will be noticed and they will be counted as awards for worshipers after they enter the Heavenly realm.
Just as Mary Magdalene released a legacy of Zeal and the exclusive Worship of the great and mighty Jesus Christ of Nazareth, her passion has been recorded in the Bible and it has no doubt inspired generations to become faithful followers of Christ.
These mighty men and women of God have embraced the mandate of Worship to Our Lord with all of their heart souls and minds…others have demonstrated the kind of lukewarm passion that Jesus would surely spew from his mouth.
Passionate Love For Our Lord Is A Running Biblical Theme
There can be no doubt that God Himself, is a Jealous God and He demands that we worship Him, and Him alone.
Our passion for Him must be hot…the flames of our passion must burn out of control, and they must burn continuously…not just for a moment or a season of time…They must burn continuously, without interruption. Why?
Because we are talking about Love. If there isn’t a continuous flame burning for Christ in your heart, with uncommon Passion and Zeal for Christ…for the object of its love and adoration…then it’s a hobby…a pass time…or a whim that is hot today and iced cold tomorrow.
Why go through the motions … if it isn’t true Love, if it isn’t hot passionate love, if it isn’t a burst that spews out of control with red hot flames of fire, Then Why Bother?
Again: If you are not on fire with passion for the object of your Love, then it is not LOVE.
IF IT IS NOT LOVE THEN WHY BOTHER WITH ANY OF IT?
In the book of Revelations, God addresses the church of Laodicea…3:15 “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I would that you were cold or hot.
16 So because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.”
That is how GOD feels about a heart without passion, without commitment, without bold intention…and without zeal!
That’s how God feels about Love without fire. If you do not give your all for Him…then He will, surely Spew You Out of HIS MOUTH. WHY?
BECAUSE HE RECOGNIZES THAT IT IS LUKEWARM and IT IS SO REPULSIVE TO HIM, THAT HE CAN’T ENDURE IT, HE IMMEDIATELY SPITS IT OUT OF HIS MOUTH!
He can’t swallow a lukewarm heart that does not give all it has for the object of its love. That is the passionate esteem with which God marks love…HE measures your value and commitment to Him by your enduring love for Him and all Created Humanity.
As He measures your level of passion, He must ask Himself, “is it Passionate … does it carry Uncommon Zeal…is it RAGING…IS it All Consuming…Does it BURN With Uncontrollable Flames of Passion and DEEP Love?”
The man with no passion … whose love is not ignited with fire, is of no use to GOD…in light his offering, the Lord will will surely spew it out of His mouth.
Fire is a cleansing agent, that burns out everything that is worthless and defiling! Thus, when your love is marked by fire and passion…it is marked by Heaven as 100% pure! At that point, you can be sure that your offering was pleasing and acceptable to Him!
GOD WILL NEVER SPEW PASSION FILLED WORSHIP OUT OF HIS MOUTH
In fact, I believe that the Lord savors the taste of deep, passionate, and enduring love. In fact, He no doubt savors the taste of your offering at the deepest level of His being.
While most Christians would no doubt say…I love the Lord with all my heart and soul, but when you examine their lives, you find them to be somewhere between mildly warm to extremely lukewarm. They say they love God, but the passion is just not there.
As it says in The gospel of Mark 4:19, in many cases love is pushed aside by “the burdens of our lives, the deceitfulness of wealth, and the cares of this world,” with no evidence that love is ever produced from such a self-centered life. These are usually consumed with self-lust and personal elevation for all the world to “admire.”
In fact, because they disdain so deeply rooted, they are consumed with the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life. In fact, be advised that when you see such a person, then it is time for you to turn and run the other way!
Yes, they claim to be Christian … they claim that they love God…but God is nowhere near the center of their lives…In fact, God does not embrace divided love and He will not share His love with another, nor will He honor lukewarm offerings of worship.
God does not tolerate divided love and He will never play the “second fiddle” to friends and lovers that you might entertain! Your love and service to Him, must be exclusive and it must be passion filed.
In the first and second commandments, our Lord proclaims that He is God, and He is to be Worshiped, and in fact, the second commandment states that the worshiper must Have No Other Gods Before Them. So YES God demands exclusive and enduring love from His faithful followers on this earth!
You may ask, “Is that really fair?;” or you may complain that you have too much going on in your life to spend so much time before your faithful Creator God!
However, before you go down that road, ask yourself, “Has any other person on this earth ever given up his or her beloved child, so that your life could be better?” In fact, usually that does not happen! But you can rest assured that when God Sent His sinless Son to die a gruesome and painful death on an old rugged cross, that you and I were at the top of His list of “Why’s.”
Why did He sacrifice His Son for All Humanity? I am pretty sure that when Christ was sacrificed, you and I were on His mind! It was in His heart that WE must be spared from a painful death and an eternity burning in the unquenchable flames of Hell Fire!
But know this: We either build a bond/an eternal connection to the burning love of God, or we walk straight into the World, where we can “eat drink and be merry, for tomorrow we may die”, we will have a choice, but we can never have it both ways.
You can either walk out into the world and become at one with a sinful and dark world that is doomed for destruction, or you can say YES to God, and follow Christ on this Earth, as you prepare yourself to meat the Lord in the Air after your death and you are being elevated to Heaven. In that scenario, you will have a “Great Crowd of Saints That Will Welcome You Into Heaven’s Glory!”
And Lest I Forget, You Will Also Be Welcomed By the Lord Himself and You Will Hear Him Say, “Well Done My Good and Faithful Servant!
Selah!