Wednesday, January 28, 2009

God Is My Passion

In an essay titled "God Is My Passion," Richard Wurmbrand writes, "A man who has a real passion, whether it be for gambling, drunkenness, womanizing, pride, or addiction to drugs, will give everything he has to satisfy it - his money, his honor, his health, his family." How true this is, especially for us whose passion is the Lord Himself! We don't want to spend our time watching tv or fixing up our houses, we want Christ, who is the only One who can satisfy the deep thirst in our souls! I find myself constantly desiring to see His glory, which is far more satisfying than anything else in this world. I've purchased Christ-exalting CD's and movies (e.g. Facing The Giants) which give me glimpses of His awesomeness, but I find myself constantly wanting more and more! It is similar to a tolerance developed for a certain drug where increasingly larger doses are needed to satisfy one's cravings. I find the Holy Spirit pushing me to go out of my comfort zone to find Christ "outside the camp" (Heb. 13:13). The normal routines just won't do it anymore, I want to go to the worst neighborhoods where both danger and suffering await, so that I might proclaim the Glory of God to a people who are utterly wasting their lives when indescribable joy is offered to them!

If your passion is something other than God, then you don't know what you are missing! Why are today's church people satisfied with meager lives consisting of work, church, and football when infinite joy and satisfaction are available in Christ? Daily Bible readings and prayer time have simply become "duties" that are less satisfying than what the world has to offer, so people develop their passions in non-God things (e.g. sports, favorite tv shows). You can tell what someone's passion is by the way they spend their time, unless one is simply "forcing" himself to shun the things of the world and "do their Christian duties." Brothers and sisters, don't settle for anything less than what you could have in Jesus! If you find yourself spending your days pursuing non-God things that do not allow you to see God's glory, or if you are caught up in a legalistic rountine of Christian "duties" that do not produce in you an "inexpressible and glorious joy" (1 Pet. 1:8), then turn from these worthless things and seek God with all your heart until you know Him as the infinitely satisfying Treasure that He is!