So lately I've been thinking about passion. People have always said I am a very passionate person, I've also been told I am "dramatic" and "loud." Which are both very true indeed but I would categorize those characteristics under passion. I like to express myself in a passionate way and often times it's seen to others as "hyper" but I see it as passion.
Passion is a funny thing, most often I think it is associated with love. But really you can be passionate for anything. I would say some people are passionate about food, others art, or fitness. It's pretty easy to find out what most people are passionate about. In just a few questions you can get a pretty good read on what someone really enjoys or loves because they become excited when they talk about it.
I'm sure you know where I'm leading with this idea of passion and that is our passion for God. I think it is easy to walk with Christ and begin to go through the motions or check off the things on our "God list," instead of really developing and maintaining a passion for Him.
But not just for Him, in Him. You see God lives in our hearts, the Bible says he is all-consuming and our body is His temple. So with the king of kings living, dwelling, residing in you, don't you think a passion should be exuding from within you.
C.S. Lewis hit it on the head in one of his sermons call "The Weight of Glory," here is an excerpt:
"We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drinks and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased."
What Lewis is saying is, unfortunately our modern-day minds have convinced us that we are "selfish" if we desire to find pleasure in God. This is where a problem arises, we become so comfortable in this box we call our relationship with God, we settle for mud pies instead of infinite delight. We don't seek out the pleasure with passion. The Lord offers us happiness in him. Pleasure, excitement and love exist through him within our hearts. Yet, we don't embrace that joy and passionately live with a constant desire for him, we settle. We fall short of the Glory of God...
Did you know praise means for consummate pleasure. Consummate means to bring to a state of perfection or fulfill. By praising God we are fullfilling our pleasure in Him. Think about all the praise you read in the Psalms, God is the object of satisfaction in all of that praise. He lives in us, so it only makes sense that we get pleasure (happiness) out of what delights in us!
"Delight yourself in the Lord; and he will give you the desires of your heart." (Psalm 37:4) When our passion is in Christ all of our needs are met by the delight that dwells within us.
Are you passionate in God? Are you delighted, excited and joyful in the Lord who has given you unending life?
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