Passion
Written by Rev. Dr. Scott Paczkowski
“It is zeal for your house that has consumed me. ”
I am not talking about the hokey song by Rod Stewart. This isn’t about sexual passion. I am talking about a passion of the soul. It can be passion found when Django Reinhardt plays the guitar, or when Baryshnikov danced, or Tom Brady plays football. It is when joy, intensity, and commitment collide. Very few, if any of us, will ever play gypsy jazz guitar like Reinhardt, or dance like Baryshnikov, or throw a ball like Brady; but a passion for Christ does not require innate talent. It can be experienced with joy, intensity, and commitment in one’s heart and soul.
This joy, intensity, and commitment must be lived out in love. You pray out of a love for God. You pray out of a love for others. You pray for a love of life that God has given you. Your love of God is deep – you cannot get enough of God. When I fell in love with my wife, I ached when I wasn’t with her. I still hate it when she is gone for more than a day or two. The same intimate love should be experienced with God. If you haven’t prayed in a day or two, you should miss God’s presence. If you miss Sunday worship, your week should feel odd, and as if you’ve missed something important in your life. If your Bible sits on the side table for a few days, unopened, you feel as if you haven’t talked to God. A passionate love for God draws us back to prayer, worship, and Scripture.
Today, reflect on what you are passionate about, or you have been passionate about at different times in your life. How do/did you feel? Have you ever felt that way about your faith in God? If so, what situations gave you the opportunity to feel God’s love? If not, perhaps you need to meet God again in prayer, worship, and your Bible. As you do, don’t stress about it. Simply, live in God’s presence and, in time, your passion for and with God will evolve and deepen. It is the greatest experience you will ever have in this life. You don’t have to earn it, like learning to be a guitar virtuoso, you just need joy, intensity, and commitment.
