I lead a Sunday school class each week at our church. The class is referred to as my class but I learned a long time ago, it wasn’t mine. It belongs to God. I do what He wants and allow His Spirit to guide us week after week. I really wish I could simply call it, “God’s class”, but I know that would be misinterpreted.

This past week in our Sunday school class I talked about the brothers, James & John, the sons of Zebedee. They were disciples of Jesus who lived their lives full blast for Him. So much so that Jesus referred to them as Boanerges.

Traditionally this nickname has been translated “Sons of Thunder” and most of us have taught that it was indicative of their tempers when they ask Jesus if He wanted them to call fire out of heaven upon a village that had rejected Him.

It is also possible that this was a phrase used to describe someone who was ambitious, which you can be without being sinful, and perhaps someone who was a bit more aggressive. In other words, it would refer to someone who lived life pretty much at warp speed.

During the course of the session I mentioned how James had been beheaded by Herod in Acts 12. But brother John lived for another 40-50 years. Not fair? Perhaps. Would James have been jealous of John if he had known what was coming his way? Perhaps. I wonder if James had time to become jealous of his brother John?
I experienced a twinge of jealousy a few hours after I had facilitated this lesson. I was going through my Facebook page and noted the remarks of several of my “facebook friends.” Some of these are folks I’ve never met face to face but have read their books, read their blogs, watched them on DVD’s and admire them from a distance. They were kind enough to become my friend. But sometimes I have to admit that a little jealousy creeps in. These friends are the movers and shakers of the evangelical church world. And they travel in circles of other movers and shakers. They are leading great churches, mentoring others to lead great churches, doing interviews, writing books, magazine articles, etc. Even more so, they get to hang out together from time to time at conferences.My momentary feelings of jealousy reminded me of a comment from my earlier lesson about James and John. James was beheaded at the beginning of his career while John lived to be very old, wrote books, pastored great churches, mentored great pastors and church leaders. Of course he miraculously endured and survived a boiling pot of oil and the prison island of Patmos and who knows what else. (By the way, I didn't feel pangs of jealousy about those things.)But the question to answer is, "Whose life made a bigger impact, James or John?" In the Kingdom, they were equal. They both did what they were supposed to do. They loved God and they obeyed and walked the path that God had provided for them.So, when I note that someone is meeting with this group, or being interviewed by these folks, or writing their next book, or flying across the country to speak at a great conference, I should simply rejoice that they are doing what God called them to do while I do what God called me to do. All of us working together, doing our part, will accomplish the plan that God has for mankind. After all, it's His plan, His Kingdom and we are His servants!

Always in Pursuit