Zealous to do good

They zealously court you, but for no good; yes, they want to exclude you, that you may be zealous for them. But it is good to be zealous in a good thing always, and not only when I am present with you.  - Galatians 4.17-18

It would be hard enough if we only had to death our own spiritual battles. It would certainly be bad enough if we 'only' had to deal with Satan and His attacks. 

But it goes beyond that. We have to be extra careful and extra diligent because false teachers of all sorts try to court us for their cause. The specific teachers here are trying to court us to the cause of living by rules and conditions. The cause of legalistic living they are trying to court us to is not good. 

They court us so that we will be zealous for their works. 

I will admit that there are times when the zeal of false teachers convicts me. I see their fervour and dedication for their cause and I wonder why I don't have that same kind of zeal. The problem is that their zeal is misdirected. 

Paul is a teacher. Any teacher can recognise that. While talking about their misdirected zeal he decides to teach about good zeal. 

'As zealous as these guys are with their courting you their side you need to be zealous in doing good work whether I am there with you or not.' 

One of the things Paul wrote to Titus about was the truth that God has called His people to be zealous of good works. The cults and false teachers are going to be zealous in their efforts to court believers in 2014. May God give me and may I live zealously in truly good works in the new year.