I desire passion in my life especially when it comes to my relationship with God. I hope it is alright to admit there are times when I come to church and passion seems to be lacking. When I speak passion I mean a deep desire, a extreme excitement and a longing love.
When Passion is lacking we tend to fall into routine, habit and tradition. To renew our passion we need to make a change. “The fire of passion begins with a spark of change.”
Change is not always easy for everyone. Before we got married, my wife and I went to a singles retreat at Intimate Life Ministries. One of the things that they measured was how accepting we were of change.
I have only lived in two places all my life. I was born and raised as a child in Lake Jackson, Texas. When I went off to college, I moved to San Marcos where we reside now. My wife on the other-hand, has been moving all her life. I believe she stated that she has never lived in one place for more than three and a half years.
It is no wonder that Amanda (my wife) is more accepting to change than I am. I think we can all find numerous occasions where people have moved when passion has left. We want something new and exciting.
Sometimes change can be challenging. Two weeks ago my wife and I were headed to lunch with another pastor when a deer decided to play chicken with our car. Unfortuantely, there were no winners. We ended up with a busted car and windshield. That one instant changed our whole life. Change can be challenging.
I desire passion in my life. To renew our passion we need to make a change. “A fire of passion begins with a spark of change.”
Maybe you can relate to what I am talking about. Where is your passion? What are you passionate about? Don’t you desire passion in your spiritual life or has your spiritual life become a routine? Perhaps you come here to worship because it’s just what you do on a Sunday morning. Maybe your daily life is a routine also. Maybe you get up in the morning, brush your teeth, get a cup of Starbucks, go to work, come home, flip on the TV, eat dinner, go to bed only to get up and start the whole routine over again.
When life turns into a routine the relationships with our spouses, children, family members, church family, bosses, coworkers all suffer. More importantly routine, habit, tradition in our spiritual life makes our relationship with God suffer. Don’t you want more for yourself? God wants more than your routine and mediocrity. He wants to be our passion. “The Fire of Passion begins with a spark of change.”
I believe the Bible says a lot on this topic. Let’s turn to the book of Revelation 3:14-16. God would desire that we be either hot or cold but definitely not warm. It’s like this one time I went to a my favorite Mexican restaurant. I just couldn’t wait to get there. My stomach was growling and my mouth was salivating. I sat down in my favorite booth and ordered my favorite Mexican dish. Minutes later they brought it out. Cheese enchiladas with sides of beans and rice. I couldn’t contain it. The aroma was just emanating from the gooey cheese. I couldn’t wait any longer. I picked up my fork and knife, cut a huge piece and stuck it in my mouth. I spit that bite out of my mouth so fast! The enchiladas on the inside were ice cold. How could that be that the cheese was nice and hot on the outside but on the inside it was ice cold?
I think we can be that way sometimes. Hot on the outside and cold on the inside. We may come and worship God looking all spiritual but on the inside we are distant and cold. Hot plus cold is warm. We have no passion when we are warm. God would desire that we were one or the other. When we are cold at least we are straight up about it and God can work with us… but when we are hot on the outside, putting on a good show, and cold inside where it is hidden then we deceive.
The Bible also speaks a great deal about this as well. Look with me at Matthew 22:34-37. We call this excerpt of scripture the great commandment. The first thing I noticed is these two groups of people we call the Pharisees and Sadducees. Why was Jesus always at these two groups of people? I think it was because of their lack of passion.
I believe at one time the Pharisees and Sadducees were a passionate people somewhere way back when they were first established. I believe they may have been founded in some sort of love for God. But over time they fill into routine, habit, rules, and traditions to a point where God became a second priority. So much so that they didn’t recognize God when He was standing there right in front of them. The same thing can happen to us. If we get caught up in habit, routine, tradition (which we call religion) we have a huge opportunity to miss the Holy Spirit trying to work in our lives.
The Pharisees and Sadducees were so caught up in their ways of religion that when Jesus came… it turned their whole world upside down. Talk about resistance to change… Jesus changed the way they were to see God. No wonder they hated Him so much, no wonder they wanted to kill him.
Jesus obviously just put the Sadducees in their place so the Pharisees get one of their top guys… one of their experts of the law to see if they can pull one over Jesus’ head. “Which is the greatest commandment?” he asks. This is interesting because Jesus answers with Jesus plus some.
What is the first commandment? You should have no other Gods besides me. Jesus says, “To love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.” That sounds about the same right? Almost. The way Jesus responds is a direct response to the way the Pharisees were on the inside. Notice that the heart, soul and mind are all things on the inside of us. They are internal things. Jesus responded what they wanted to hear but also in a way that convicted them. He said its to love God… but not just on the outside like you but on the inside too. We are to be on fire for him… passionate about him… not just on the outside like the cheese of the enchilada, or the Pharisees, but hot on the inside as well.
Passion implies we are hot on the outside and inside. There is no mediocrity. This week the Holy Spirit convicted my heart through a book that I should change the message I had prepared. What if I had not listened to the Spirit and you knew that I had a better message to preach. Would you want my other “good… mediocre sermon or my new one. You would want my new one. You would expect that of me. God desires that we are not warm or mediocre but He wants our best.
What does this mean for us, well, to renew a passion for the Lord then we may need to make a change. “A fire of passion begins with a spark of change.” Make a small change in our life. A baby-step size change to get out of our mundane habits, and routines. God would desire change in our hearts toward him. God doesn’t change to fit us… he desires change in us. I will give you a practical change my wife and I recently made.
My wife and I were recently on a retreat where we were doing our annual planning. One of the areas we looked at was our personal spiritual goals. I felt God impressing on me to pray more. My wife and I already pray by ourselves quite a bit and also before meals and when certain difficult situations appear but I felt God desired more from me. We agreed to make a change and add at least one additional prayer time together outside of meals. I want to have a passion for praying to God.
You can make a similar change in your own life, wither its adding prayer or extra devotional reading or serving more… it doesn’t matter but make a change. “A fire of passion begins with a spark of change.”
Can you just imagine how much passion you can add to you own personal relationships with your spouses, kids and in your spiritual lives if we could just commit to a small change. Don’t let this me a Sunday of routine. Don’t leave here the same. Let this be a day when we can claim that we made a change. Would you do that today? Let’s pray.
