‘In diligence not slothful (in zeal not flagging), fervent in spirit, serving the Lord.'

It is necessarily the church which will benefit most by the zeal of God's people in serving the LORD, for their fellow-members are their prime responsibility, but the wider outreach must not be overlooked. Indeed, while evangelising is of prime importance, it will only usually arise where there is a strong church fellowship. It is significant that this instruction to be diligent and on fire follows the requirement for ‘sincere love', and does not precede it. The point is that having zeal and fire is good, but that without love it may well be misplaced or even misused. On the other hand if our love is genuine it must certainly express itself in our giving of ourselves in love. Thus there must be no flagging in the diligence with which we go about living out our spiritual lives, no half-heartedness, no holding back. We are to give our all. And it is to be with a spirit that is at boiling point, aflame with love and dedication, a spirit on fire, remembering that we are serving the LORD, not men (compare Ephesians 6:5).

Many would see ‘spirit' here as requiring a capital S, and this would tie in with Romans 8:1. Thus we could read ‘fervent in the Spirit', recognising that it is only He Who can maintain our spiritual momentum. It is through Him and by His direction that we are to serve the Lord. And it is He Who maintains the fervency of our spirits. However, in the parallel use in Acts 18:25 the phrase ‘fervent in spirit' most probably refers to the human spirit, although as being stirred up by the Holy Spirit. Thus the small ‘s' is probably correct, but all would recognise that the fervency had to be stirred up by the Holy Spirit.

‘Serving the LORD.' We may see two emphases here. The first in the fact that all our zeal and fire must have in mind that we are in His service. It is as His privileged servants that we are to live, with all the dedication that that requires, acknowledging that He is ‘the LORD'. But secondly it is a reminder that we are to do all as in His sight. Our zeal must not be misplaced. Our fervency must not be self-directed or group-directed. Our concern must be to please Him. Thus it is the LORD and His concerns that must be primary, not our own particular viewpoints. His will must always take first place, and we should note that that is not being achieved if we fail to honour all our brothers and sisters, eve though they may not see things as we do in every way.

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