On Tuesday night Pastor Joel shared a word with our group about “passion for Jesus.”  I have to say it has really stirred me up.  Without a passion for Jesus fueling everything we are doing, what are we really doing, and what could possibly be taking the place of that passion if it is not there?  The answer to both of these questions is nothing good or worthwhile.  It is a passion for Jesus that caused me to be a leader in the first place, it has been a passion for Jesus that has kept me going, and it is a passion for Jesus that is going to lead me to finish.

Acts 20:24 – “But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus-the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God.”

This is an excellence verse on passion.  The first thing it shows is that passion is not about excitement, but endurance. Passion is not about how much noise you can make, or how many people you can get to look your way, but about how much you are willing to suffer in order to see God’s vision come about: “my life is worth nothing to me unless…”  You know you have passion when you have found the one thing that will make your life worth something if it is accomplished, and worth nothing if it is not.

The next thing this verse shows us about real passion for Jesus, is that real passion does not just start strong; it also ends strong. This means that real passion is more than a state of emotion, but must reach a place of conviction.  Conviction is not just something your feel when you do something wrong.  It is a passion boiling inside of you that causes you to hold the line, keep your standard, and stand strong in the midst of temptation.  In order to finish what you started your passion must become a conviction connected to the Cross.

The next thing we see is that real passion originates from an assignment of the Lord Jesus and not a desire to please man.  Learning certain behaviors and habits that you know will cause you to be seen as favorable in the eyes of man, without going through the necessary heart transplant that is required to truly obey GOD will lead to hypocrisy; not passion.  Repentance is not about changing what you do.  It is allowing God to change your heart, so that what you do is different.  The proof of a changed heart that can be obedient to God’s will is found in a renewed mind (Romans 12:2). Real passion transforms your behaviors by transforming your heart.

The last thing we see here about passion is that real passion is directly connected to work of winning souls. Without a passion for Jesus fueling what we are doing, what are we really doing?  When the flame of passion for Jesus begins to flicker  and die out it is revealed by your lack of passion to see the lost saved.  Hiding behind a microphone and pulpit does not excuse this passionless existence either.  Boldly declaring the gospel in a room where 95% of the people will clap and applaud your message does not reveal passion.  If that same boldness is there in the midst of certain rejection, or obvious ignorance to the good news, then passion can really be seen.  If a passion for Jesus is not fueling your ministry then what is?  Without real passion for Jesu can your ministry continue without losing its focus of “doing the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God?”

Lets not be like Eutychus who while sitting among “flickering lamps” lost his passion to endure and fell asleep.  Though he seemed to have died, the passion for Jesus inside of Paul awaken Eutychus again, and then they both continued “until dawn.” Jesus coming again! Let us continue in passion until he returns!

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