Passion

"Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead." – Philippians 3:13

For what do you really have passion? Nobody succeeds at anything for which they do not have passion. What is it in your life? Whether it is collecting butterflies, painting ceramics, playing football or basketball, collecting old books, or studying history, without passion you dawdle through life, much as someone who goes through a smorgasbord, sampling little bits of many things without getting anything which really satisfies.

Being passionate about someone–whether it is your husband or wife or a friend–is not quite the same thing as having a passion or a strong desire for something. Jesus was challenged by a man who was sent by the Pharisees to test Him, asking what is the greatest command in the Law. Jesus replied, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind" (Matthew 22:37). Eugene Peterson paraphrases His words saying, "Love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence" (The Message).

In thinking about your priorities and your passions, the things that really drive you, how great is your passion for God? This question may create some concern in your heart because we often think of individuals who have a passion for God as being somewhat quaint and eccentric. "Yes," we think , "that’s okay for mystics and ascetics that go into monasteries and convents and shut themselves away from the world." That’s how people with a passion for God should be treated.

What of the businessman who has a passion for knowing God, who also believes that what drives him to know God also energizes him to do what He believes God wants him to do? He remembers Paul’s admonition, "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men" (Colossians 3:23).

What of the single mother whose husband walked out on her, leaving her with three children to raise without support? Did passion leave when her husband packed up and walked out? Not necessarily. I have known single women who experienced the resources of God, throwing themselves completely on Him. These women loved God with passion and experienced His provision in ways that they never thought possible.

Loving God with passion means that you have made Him Lord of all your life, not an appendage that is tacked on to the multiplicity of tasks and responsibilities you have. It means making Him a priority, not a possibility, taking time to nourish a relationship with Him day in and day out.

Having passion for God doesn’t replace or displace passion in your personal life or passion for what God has called you to do. On the contrary, it means you do a better job of whatever it is you have been called to do. With Paul you have laid hold of that for which God laid hold of you, and with passion you do His will.

Without passion to drive your life, you will never succeed at anything. When you make knowing Him a priority, learn He is a good God and grow to love Him, you will discover that a passion for God is a flame that cannot be extinguished, a light that cannot be dimmed, and a love that will never be disappointed.

Resource reading: Genesis 5