Passion for Christ

I read a quote from Zig Ziglar that addresses the need for passion.  In my opinion we must possess passion in our lives if we are going to succeed in any endeavour that we attempt.  Michael Phelps must have possessed passion for swimming for him to have competed as such a peak level for the past several years of his life.  Those who participate in any field of sports must possess passion for that sport if they are to be successful.  Can you imagine how many hours sports participants spend in practice prior to the game (s) even being played?  Doctors study for many years and take many classes before they are ever deemed prepared to "practice" medicine.  This list is a brief one but hopefully it has served the purpose to kindle some thoughts about the role that passion plays in our lives.

Let us take a moment and read the quote from Mr. Ziglar.  "I don't care what the field of endeavor is—sports, business, science, medicine, education, ministry, public service—I don't believe that anyone will perform at his or her peak without passion.  Life's too tough to get to the top without passion.  You're going to fail, be taken advantage of, be disappointed by people you trust, disappoint yourself, run out of resources—almost every day you're going to encounter a good, solid, logical reason why you ought to give up.  And without passion, you just might.  That's why passion is the prerequisite for peak performance."

Don't you believe that is time for the church to exhibit and release our passion toward the development of our relationship with Jesus Christ?  I am not writing this statement in a judgmental or critical manner.  One of the ministry leaders at New River shared this thought with the Worship Team a few weeks ago in a devotional.  "It is time that we move out of the status quo in our relationship with Christ.  The enemy seeks for each of us to just go through the motions of church and not allow the Spirit to change our lives..."  I agree with that challenge.  We can be passionate about sports, politics, our governmental leaders, and many other cultural subjects.  But where is our passion for Jesus Christ?  We can become passionate about issues but where is our passion for a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ?  The Apostle Paul cried out "that I may know him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death," Philippians 3:10 (NKJV)  We will need to exhibit passion if we see that prayer answered.  We are facing too many enemies who seek to hinder our relationship with Christ; let us seek to "know Christ."