Spiritual Fervency

God has been teaching us what to believe and what to do. In this verse, he teaches us how to be.

Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord.

Romans 12:11

Note the underlying assumption that one can change the way they are. We are expected to respond obediently to this command by not being slothful in zeal and becoming fervent in spirit.

What is Being “Slothful in Zeal”?

Slothful means shrinking and timid; thus idle, hesitant, tardy, reluctant and unwilling to act. Zeal means diligence, haste, earnestness, enthusiasm and quickness to act. Put these together and the command is this: don’t be slow to act passionately.

You probably aren’t doing a lot of outright evil things, selling drugs to children or running over old women with your car. But maybe you’re slothful in zeal, or as Jesus phrases it in Revelation 3:15-16:

I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.

Jesus didn’t live and die for us so that we could be mild about him. Maybe you’re not doing a lot of clearly evil things. But Christian mildness is evil in its own right.

Fervent in Spirit
This means spiritually boiling, bubbling over due to high heat, seething with energy and passion. The alternative to slothfulness in zeal isn’t doing a bunch of stuff; it’s growing spiritually hot.

If you have spaghetti noodles in one hand and a pot of water in the other; the next step is to heat things up. Nothing transformative will happen to those noodles until the water boils. More water won’t change things. More noodles won’t change things. Similarly, Dulin’s Grove doesn’t need more people or programs. We need to get spiritually hot.

How? Paul doesn’t say. Here’s my suggestion. I believe we heat up as we sit on the burner of God’s word. Comb through the Psalms and see how passionate the writers are. How did they get that way? At least part of their boiling process was meditating on God’s word.

• but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. (1:2)
• … ponder in your own hearts on your beds, and be silent. (4:4b)
• The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul… (19:7a)
• … the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart… (19:8a)
• I will praise you with an upright heart, when I learn your righteous rules.(119:7)
• With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments! (119:10)
• I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways. (119:15)
• Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law. (119:18)
• Your testimonies are my delight; they are my counselors. (119:24)
• My soul clings to the dust; give me life according to your word! (119:25)

Challenge
Here’s your challenge: start every day this week by setting yourself on a passage of God’s word and resting their all day. A pot of water doesn’t boil by touching the burner. It boils by remaining on the burner. Pick a passage and pack it into your mind so you can meditate on it all day. Keep in touch with your brothers and sisters about how it’s going in the Facebook group.

Serve the Lord
In closing, note that God gives direction for our spiritual fervency. All this heat is meant to produce service to the Lord.

Imagine us growing spiritually hotter and hotter. Imagine that our people stop attending church and begin vigorously working, using their gifts to be the church. Imagine us repenting of private gossip and selfishness and loving each other genuinely like family. Imagine that instead of apathy and hypocrisy, we grow to deeply abhor evil and cling to good. Imagine each member of our church, instead of scrambling to be honored, scrambling to honor others.

Imagine Dulin’s Grove boiling over with spiritually fervent service to the Lord. This is what Jesus died to create out of us and this is what we are becoming. It starts with you, today, resting on God’s word until boiling.

Discussion Starters

1. What impassions you? What do you think impassions the world?
2. How does slothfulness in zeal show itself in the church?
3. How does fervency in spirit show itself in the church?
4. Whom would you describe as fervent in spirit?
5. What are some practical ways one can work on becoming fervent in spirit?
6. What does it mean to serve the Lord?
7. How is the idea of serving the Lord connected with the idea of spiritual fervency?
8. What is your next step in obeying these commands?
9. Spend some time praying together about these things.