The Passion of God

Let's be passionate for the Lord. Not a lackadaisical "Jesus is just alright with me" acceptance, but the same strong, stirring, irresistible, unstoppable, passionate determination that a seed expresses when it germinates, pushing through dirt, clay, rocks, pavement, whatever is between it and the sunlight which will be its life and nourishment.

In scientific terms, work is done when energy flows from a center of high gradient to a point of low gradient. Those are fancy terms for what happens when water flows downstream and turns a mill wheel to grind grain or powers electrical turbines to light our houses. It is what happens when we bake bread or cook our meal and have heat moving from the hot gas flame or electric elements to the cold, but quickly warming pans that hold our food.

On a larger scale, all our weather develops in the same way. When warm air meets cool air, turbulence develops. It may be as simple as a windy day or a rain shower or as dramatic as a tornado or as massive as a hurricane.

It's the same in the spirit. Before we came to know God, we were cold and dead as a seed in storage. At some point, the Spirit of God reached out and touched us, sovereignly or through someone's obedience, and that seed woke and started growing. The spiritual life that was imparted to us energized us and became a growing passion to know more about God, a determination to get closer to the light that satisfied the craving in our hearts. As we pushed our way through the obstacles in our life and the hindrances that stood in our way, we were able to draw nearer to Jesus, the object of our passion and hunger.

At a certain point, many of us reach an equilibrium, or a balancing point. Our early, newly-saved passion carried us so far in our growth and Christian walk, but like a multi-stage rocket, the first stage used up the fuel it had to get us started and the flame went out. A seed in the ground has stored food it uses to make leaves and roots until it can break through to the sun. A chick in an egg has enough stored energy to grow and develop to the point it can break out of its shell and live in the world. That is the point we come to and have to make a choice to go forward. Without the passionate desire to be more and do more, we simply stop. We have reached a balance where we are no longer cold and dead, but the blazing passion that drove us is missing. Being neither hot nor cold, we do not have the energy to do anything for ourselves or for God.

Just as the seed makes the final determined push against the resistance holding it from the sunlight, and the chick, tired though it is, keeps chipping at the shell holding it in, we can choose to take just one step closer to the loving Savior we knew when He first came into our lives. He will meet us where ever we are at, in whatever circumstance we face, no matter what the situation or the odds against us seem, and He can pour His Spirit into our lives to give the power to overcome whatever is holding us bound. If your passion has died out, that's okay. Turn to Jesus -- His passion is more than sufficient.

As we break free into the richness of the life in God's kingdom, let's each of us be ever more passionate, become that center of high energy that can pour out into someone else's life where they need the second-stage rockets to ignite and kick them into a higher orbit. Let God's warmth and compassion gently moisten and soften the hard ground preventing the germinating seed in someone's life from breaking through to the fresh air and light. As a mother hen clucks to her chicks to encourage them and draw them into continuing the effort, speak words of encouragement to those God quickens to your thoughts.


lack·a·dai·si·cal

ˌlakəˈdāzikəl/
adjective
lacking enthusiasm and determination; carelessly lazy.
"a lackadaisical defense left the Spurs adrift in the second half"
synonyms: lethargic, apathetic, listless, sluggish, spiritless, passionless:

Blessed Father of light and life, in whom there is never a shortage, we draw from You the eternal energy and strength of heaven. We yield ourselves as vessels, pure and clean, to conduct the life power to others to strengthen feeble hands and lift bowed heads. Thank You for purifying us to Your work.

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