Passion For Jesus

By: Donna J. Kazenske

According to Scripture and the Lord Jesus Himself, the greatest commandment is this: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind.” (Matt. 22:37)

Many Christians can quote this passage, say all the right words, do all the right things, go to all the right places, but yet something vital is still missing on the inside of their mortal being. What is it that’s missing in the lives of so many “born again” Christians? Where is the genuine adoration and love of God that once burned within us? Do we really love Him with all of our hearts, all of our souls and all of our minds or is there a mixture in our Christianity?

One of the key ingredients in a Christian’s life is passion. Not passion for worldly things, but a true heartfelt passion for Jesus. A passion that burns on the inside and consumes our thought processes, consumes our decision making, consumes our worship, consumes our emotions and will.

I believe many Christians today are lacking passion for Jesus. We have passion for our friends, passion for our animals, passion for our computers and other realities of life, but where is our passion for God?

Passion is an abandoned display of emotion such as love, joy, etc. It denotes strong feeling, fervor, enthusiasm and zeal.

Remember when you were first saved (born again)? Remember the zeal that penetrated every fiber of your being? You couldn’t keep quiet about your salvation experience; you had to share your newfound faith with almost everyone. Your classmates thought you had lost your mind. Your parents looked at you with eyes of suspicion as the Lord began to transform you into a new person. You bubbled over with joy unspeakable and full of glory. You danced before the Lord in perfect liberty.

Where is that passion now? Where is that enthusiasm, joy and zeal for God that once burned so bright in your life? Why is it that Bible reading no longer has an effect upon you? What has happened to your prayer life? Why is it that you’d rather spend your evening watching your favorite television program instead of being in the presence of the One who died for you?

I believe many of us pray, read the word, go to church and serve Jesus out of obligation instead of passion for Him. Passion does not operate out of obligation. Passion operates as a result of agape love.

Passion loves and serves because it wants to, not because it has to. Passion is serving God because there is nothing else that we would rather be doing. There is no passion without relationship. Passion always has a direct object. Passion is focused on a person or thing. Passion is energized by a person or thing. You can’t love a person that you don’t know. Knowing Jesus is essential to a passionate relationship with Him. Any hindrances to that relationship must be dealt with. Sins must be confessed. Passion for Jesus cannot be earned, but comes to us instead as a gift.

Passion is something that has to be cultivated and guarded. The enemy will do everything he can to discourage us from falling totally in love with Jesus. He will tell us we are too vocal about our faith. He will tell us that we need to calm down and not make such a spectacle of ourselves at church when God’s Spirit is moving profoundly upon the congregation. The Devil is a deceiver and a liar. He doesn’t want any of us to enjoy our Christianity. He will do everything in his power to distract us from achieving and performing our eternal purpose on this earth.

Martha’s sister Mary had a passion for Jesus. When Jesus was present, all she wanted to do was sit at His feet and worship Him. (Luke 10:38)

Luke 7:36-38 – “Then one of the Pharisees asked Him to eat with him. And He went to the Pharisee’s house and sat down to eat. And behold, a woman in the city who was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at the table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil and stood at His feet behind Him weeping; and she began to wash His feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head; and she kissed His feet and anointed them with the fragrant oil.”

This woman didn’t come to receive a blessing. She came to be a blessing and show her true devotion and passion for Jesus. She came knowing that she would probably be ridiculed by the Pharisees and others who were present, yet she took a risk and poured out all that she had upon Jesus.