The catch-word of our day is "passion". Find your area of passion, goes the modern reasoning, and you will find real success in life. And there is some sense that we are at our optimum when we serve and work where our greatest desire and energy lie. But, passion is also something to be cultivated, as well as channeled.
Passion is written all over this passage: "As the deer pants for the water brooks, So my soul pants for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God; When shall I come and appear before God ?" (Psalm 42:1-2). Try substituting "is passionate" for "pants" to get some sense of the meaning of this passage in today's vernacular. The Psalmist was clearly passionate for his relationship with the living God.
Intense passion is difficult. Ask any married couple and they will testify that passion ebbs and flows. And so it is spiritually. Anyone who anticipates ongoing intense spiritual passion is destined for disappointment.
Twice the Psalmist says, "I shall again praise Him ... I shall yet praise Him" (verses 5,11). These phrases indicate that he currently is not praising God, but anticipates in hope that he will in the future. I find consolation in these words, because I have those moments when praise is absent. Honestly, the fire of spiritual passion sometimes is reduced to the glowing coals that remain after the red-hot fire has burned down. Praise is more perfunctory than passionate.
A key to rekindling spiritual passion is found in the Psalmists'' word: "These things I remember ..." (verse 4). Spiritual lethargy becomes a dangerous disease when we fail to reflect and remember as we evaluate our current condition. Jesus prescribed remembering and repenting for a church that had left its fist love (Revelation 2:5), and we periodically need the same prescription, as did the Psalmist.
There is nothing wrong in lacking spiritual passion if we realize this is our true condition. It is a hopeful sign when we realize that the fire of passion has dimmed, and that we long for the raging fire again.
Honestly, if I asked you to assess your spiritual passion today, would you compare it to a raging fire, the remaining embers, or somewhere in between? And, more importantly, how do you truly feel about your current condition? Perhaps the most important exercise for any of us today is to seriously ponder these questions, and decisively act upon our findings.
Steve
© 2011, Steve Taylor
Passion is written all over this passage: "As the deer pants for the water brooks, So my soul pants for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God; When shall I come and appear before God ?" (Psalm 42:1-2). Try substituting "is passionate" for "pants" to get some sense of the meaning of this passage in today's vernacular. The Psalmist was clearly passionate for his relationship with the living God.
Intense passion is difficult. Ask any married couple and they will testify that passion ebbs and flows. And so it is spiritually. Anyone who anticipates ongoing intense spiritual passion is destined for disappointment.
Twice the Psalmist says, "I shall again praise Him ... I shall yet praise Him" (verses 5,11). These phrases indicate that he currently is not praising God, but anticipates in hope that he will in the future. I find consolation in these words, because I have those moments when praise is absent. Honestly, the fire of spiritual passion sometimes is reduced to the glowing coals that remain after the red-hot fire has burned down. Praise is more perfunctory than passionate.
A key to rekindling spiritual passion is found in the Psalmists'' word: "These things I remember ..." (verse 4). Spiritual lethargy becomes a dangerous disease when we fail to reflect and remember as we evaluate our current condition. Jesus prescribed remembering and repenting for a church that had left its fist love (Revelation 2:5), and we periodically need the same prescription, as did the Psalmist.
There is nothing wrong in lacking spiritual passion if we realize this is our true condition. It is a hopeful sign when we realize that the fire of passion has dimmed, and that we long for the raging fire again.
Honestly, if I asked you to assess your spiritual passion today, would you compare it to a raging fire, the remaining embers, or somewhere in between? And, more importantly, how do you truly feel about your current condition? Perhaps the most important exercise for any of us today is to seriously ponder these questions, and decisively act upon our findings.
Steve
© 2011, Steve Taylor
posted by steve @ 9:04 AM
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