Passion

 And you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. Deuteronomy 6:5....."I want to love God more than any person in my generation." A.W. Tozer

There are countless songs in the church today that tell of how much we love God. How much we love His Son. Yet, I have to wonder, just how deep is this love for Him that we profess? How passionate is it really?

In a devotional that contains the writings of A.W. Tozer, he tells of the 18th century missionary to the Delaware Indians, David Brainerd. Brainerd was a passionate lover of God, and because of that, a passionate lover of those to whom he'd been sent. Tozer says of him, "He had such a passion for God that nothing else could satiate his heart. He would kneel in the snow and be so lost in worship, prayer, and intercession that when he was through, the snow would melt around him in a wide circle." So great was the depth and passion of his love.

Then Chris Tiegreen tells of the life of John Fletcher, a contemporary of John Wesley. He was a man known to be completely devoted and in love with his God. So in love that in the home where he lived and exists to this day, one can see the indentations from his knees on the floorboards of his bedroom, where he prayed. On the wall there can be seen the stains from his very breath as he breathed his prayers before his Lord.

Passion for Him so intense as to melt snow and stain walls. What do you and I know of such passion? Where in our lives do we display it? We testify of it, sing of it, even preach of it. Where do we live in it? We throw the word love around so loosely with each other. Our love can burn towards another one day and be gone the next. Perhaps this is because it was never love at all, but nothing more than lust. Maybe it's because we don't really know what love is, and never will until we truly come to know and love the One who is the Author of Love, Jesus Christ.

I'm convicted by the words of Tozer, used above. He wanted to love God more than any other man or woman of his time. Is there even a small amount of such desire in us? If there is, where is it displaying itself in our lives? Are we passionately loving Him when we have to be constantly urged to attend to His Word, to prayer, to even attending corporate worship on a regular basis? Is there passion in how we serve Him, with what we offer Him. Is there any real sacrifice in our testament of love? His love knows no bounds, but ours seem to have many.

We will never be able to work ourselves up to such love. It is impossible for our flesh. We must first be swept up in His love. Consumed by it. His Word tells us that He is a consuming fire. His love is a consuming fire. When it consumes us, it ignites us. His love becomes ours. The passion He has for us becomes the passion we have for Him, and for all that He loves in this fallen world. When that happens, snow, as well as a hard heart, melts. Such is the yield of a life consumed with a passion for Him. May it be my yield and yours as well. May His love not just be something we casually receive and take passing note of. May we live in all of its fullness, filled with all of its fullness. May it start in us today.

Blessings,

Pastor O