I have heard a lot of people talk about having a passion for
God.
Wanting to know if I had a passion for God I got on www.biblegateway.com (which, by the way, is an awesome reference
website) and decided to search the word, “passion.” After all, if these artists have such a
passion for God there must be some Bible references to that. The following is a list of the results:
·
9 results in NIV
·
3 results in KJV
·
27 results in ESV
It was interesting to see that none of the references
referred to a passion for God. In fact,
the great majority indicated a passion for sin.
I then decided that I’d better define my term, “passion.” Merriam-Webster at www.m-w.com defines passion as:
:
a strong feeling of enthusiasm or excitement for
something or about doing something
:
a strong feeling (such as anger) that causes you
to act in a dangerous way
:
a strong sexual or romantic feeling for someone
So I had to ask myself what it means to have a “passion for
God.” Is it even possible as a fallen
human to have that passion? Passion is a
feeling, feelings are fickle.
One verse really stuck out to me in every version, 2 Timothy
2:22 (ESV) So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and
peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.
Another word caught my eye, “pursue.” Again to Merriam-Webster
– pursue:
:
to follow and try to catch or capture (someone
or something) for usually a long distance or time
:
to try to get or do (something) over a period of
time
:
to be involved in (an activity)
And again, back to Biblegateway:
·
100 results in NIV (7 reference us pursuing
Godly things)
·
74 results in KJV (1 reference us pursuing Godly
things)
·
109 results in ESV (9 reference us pursuing
Godly things)
(Most of the references denote an army or person pursuing,
as in battle, another army or person).
What I see is this: passion is a feeling ingrained is us
all. As humans, our passions are geared
to human wants and desires.
On the other hand, to pursue is to act. Action can be classified as work, which isn’t
naturally what we want to do.
I guess what I’m getting at with all of this is that I don’t
really care too much about having a passion for God as long as I am pursuing
Him with all that I am. My passion will
be swayed by circumstance; my pursuit will be fixed on the goal of becoming
more like my Father. I don’t want to be
passionate as much as I want to be purposeful.
As I pursue Him my love for Him will grow; love, like pursue, is a verb.
God, please help me to pursue You more.
One of the synonyms for passion is zeal. It is the 6th definition for passion in the 1828 dictionary. The Bible uses this word more concerning one being stirred up or excited to do something. Jesus was described with both words (John 2:17, Acts 1:3).
ReplyDeletePaul uses it in the following ways:
Concerning God:
Rom 10:1-2 "Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved. For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge."
Concerning spiritual gifts:
Rom 14:12 "Even so ye, forasmuch as ye are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek that
ye may excel to the edifying of the church."
Concerning its affect on others:
2 Cor 9:2 "For I know the forwardness of your mind, for which I boast of you to them
of Macedonia, that Achaia was ready a year ago; and your zeal hath provoked very many"
Concerning any good thing:
Gal 4:18 "But it is good to be zealously affected always in a good thing,
and not only when I am present with you."
Concerning one of God's people for God's people:
Col 4:13 "For I bear him record, that he hath a great zeal for you, and them that are in Laodicea, and them in Hierapolis."
Concerning good works:
Titus 2:14 "Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works."
It is a good thing to have passion, yea, zeal of God.