We were on a 3 day adventure in Savannah, GA when my friends and I walked into his store.
Naturally, my first stop was the row of free honey samples. I introduced myself as I spread some honey on an apple slice. The man greeted us and said his name was Usher. He was maybe 30 and had a store full of honey, chap stick, lotion, and other bee byproducts. It didn’t take long for someone to see that Usher loves bees.
“What do you love so much about them?” I asked.
“They’re just amazing,” he replied, a huge smile on his face. “What they can do, how they make honey… it’s incredible.” He went on to explain how many bees it takes to make a tablespoon of honey, and then shared about his hives. He has 60,000 bees and is planning to add more.
“Do you ever get stung?”
“Oh yeah,” he answered. “All the time. It just comes with the job. But when you love your work as much as I do, it’s a small price to pay. I don’t even notice it anymore, really. I just think they’re so cool.”
And just that quickly, the subject had shifted back to the bees. Usher shared more about what they were capable of, how they worked together, and how much he loved being at his hive, collecting honey and working with his bees.
Usher was zealous for them.
—- (We now interrupt this blog for a quick Word Study Intermission) —-
Zeal.
Definition: great energy or enthusiasm in pursuit of a cause.
Synonyms: passion, adore, love, devotion, eagerness, intensity
“Zeal” comes from the same Latin and Greek root word as “jealousy.” In the Old and New Testament, the word for “jealousy” can also be translated as “zeal.” Therefore, when the Bible says our God is a jealous God, it is saying He is full of zeal.
Like Usher’s zeal for his bees, so is God’s zeal for us.
Usher was enthusiastic about his bees. The very thought of them filled him with delight. He could talk about them all day, sharing stories about what they could do and how magnificent they are. He cherished his bees in particular, the hive he had started and the bees that lived and worked there. He enjoyed being their master. There was nothing else he’d rather do. Usher loved his bees.
It didn’t matter to him how often he got stung. He barely acknowledged it. He knew it was something bees do. “They’re bees. They’re going to sting.” God’s reaction to our sin is the same. It doesn’t surprise him. It doesn’t keep him away. His response to our sin is of such insignificant concern compared to his enthusiasm for and enjoyment of us.
He delights in us.
If all the bee did was think about how often it stung its master, if all we did was think about mistakes we make, and become consumed with our sins, we wouldn’t get anything done. We wouldn’t be able to receive the way God enjoys us. We’d be too focused on the regret, shame, and guilt of our sin.
The bee doesn’t acknowledge it, he just does his “work.” It’s not even work, though. It’s just what the bee was created to do. And when that bee is simply itself, it is completely in the center of his master’s delight and enjoyment.
Our Master is zealous for us.
—-
Want to hear more about the zealous pursuit of God that invites us into a life of freedom? Click here to read about the rest of my time in Savannah.
