A Fire Of Passion Begins With A Spark Of Change Series

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.