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 he doesn’t have passion. So, what is it in your life? Whether it is art, painting ceramics, football, basketball, old books, history, or seeking God, without passion you dawdle through life, much as someone who goes through a cafeteria or smorgasbord sampling little bits of many things without getting anything which really satisfies.
I never cease to be amazed at the wide diversity of things for which people have passion, things that are of little interest to me but have consumed a lifetime of interest and a large portion of their resources for others.
Being passionate about someone—whether it is your husband or wife–or growing tropical orchids, is not quite the same thing as having a passion or a strong desire for something. Jesus was challenged once by a man who was sent by the Pharisees to test Him, saying that the greatest commandment in the Bible is to “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).
Question: thinking about your passions, the things that really drive you, how great is your passion for God? The very question may create some concern in your heart in that we often think of individuals who have a passion for God as being somewhat quaint and eccentric. “Yes,” we think, “that’s OK for mystics and recluses who go into monasteries and convents, who shut themselves away from the world. That’s how people with a passion for God should be treated.”
But what of a businessperson 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? That passion for God is the outworking of his work ethic that makes him succeed where others fail. 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).
And what of the single mother whose husband walked out on her, leaving her with three children to raise without much 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, who—yes—loved God with passion, and experienced His provision in ways they never thought possible.
Loving God with passion means that you have made Him Lord of all your life, not simply 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.
Now, having passion for God doesn’t replace or displace passion in your personal life or having passion for what God has called you to do. To 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 live out your life and do His will.
Without passion which drives your life, you never really succeed at anything, but when you make Him a priority and learn He is a good God and love Him, you will discover a passion for God is a flame which cannot be extinguished, a light which will never go out, and a love that will never be disappointed.
Without passion, life becomes dull and blah.
Resource reading: Genesis 5:1-32
