Passion. A concept that is hard to grasp and even harder to sustain. Passion is defined as “a strong and barely controllable emotion or an intense enthusiasm for something.” For believers, upon becoming a new creation, there is great passion in sharing the good news of Jesus, toward Bible study and church attendance. That passion wanes as time progresses for a myriad of reasons. A lackluster mentality takes hold and faith becomes more about routine maintenance than a passionate pursuit of Jesus.
What are you passionate about? Is there purpose in your passion? If you are not sure, take a look at your calendar. What fills most of your time (e.g., work, leisure, family time, meetings, civic engagements)? That which is important to any individual whether out of necessity or preference will always find its way onto the daily, weekly, or monthly calendar. In truth, passion without purpose is nearly impossible to sustain for a lifetime. An infatuation with no greater an end than our own delight is like soap bubbles, fog, or a sunset—fascinating and fleeting at the same time.
John the Apostle was a passionate man. He was most passionate about one person—Jesus Christ. In any of the four books of the Bible that bear his name there exists within the vernacular of each sentence a deep-seated passion that seemingly bursts forth from the page. He writes of Christ in his gospel account, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not anything that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” What doctrinally true and powerful words that John used to describe his love and passion for the Savior of the world! The purpose behind his passion was two-fold—share the truth of the gospel with the world and grow as close as humanly possible in his love and relationship with Christ.
For the modern-day Christ follower, most would claim the same purpose and passion as John. Unfortunately, we are likely to meander in our commitment because of our involvement and, dare I say, passion about the fleeting things of the world. We would do well to remember the words of Robert Robinson. In 1757, at the age of twenty-two, he penned the hymn “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing.” Out of the overflow of his heart and passion for Christ came his desire despite his sin nature and the allure of the world when we wrote, “prone to wander Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I love. Take my heart Lord, take and seal it, seal it for thy courts above.”
Brent Thompson
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