Passion

(I actually journaled this post on April 14, 2006 )

passion: 1 a strong emotion, as hate, love, etc. 2 an object of strong emotion

I just finshed watching The Passion of the Christ, the movie written and directed by Mel Gibson. My church, Red Zone Christian Church, showed it tonight. As I was viewing this movie for the third time, I had a strong desire to understand the true passion that Christ reveiled in his final hours before enduring the cross.

So many times, to talk about passion might come from watching a movie with an intense love story (The Notebook comes to mind). It may involve a mighty, heart-wrenching battle (Braveheart, Lord of the Rings). It may also be an intense sports story where the underdog makes for an amazing "Cinderella story" (Rudy, Glory Road). I have even heard a husband or wife speak with passion about his/her spouse. We see demonstrations on the evening news where people are "passionate" supporting or protesting the latest political news. But, none of these seemed to compare to the true passion that Jesus Christ showed the world almost 2000 years ago.

Being a young christian (I began my personal relationship with Jesus 8 years ago), I found myself still wondering, "God, wasn't there any other way to save sinners?" I have read the accounts of Jesus' last week, last hours, his ministry and have never been impacted the way I was tonight. Seeing the Savior of my soul beaten, spat on, whipped, flogged, mocked, hated, and finally crucified made me realize just how ugly sin is! My stomach is still churning as I write this and begin to understand, more, the true passion of Jesus.

In Luke 22:44 it says, "And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground." Jesus prayed to God that if there was any other way to save the world to please do it. BUT, more than that, Jesus wanted to submit to the will of his Father. His prayer was so intense that some commentaries will say blood dripped from him due to the level of stress and spiritual warfare that was going on. Jesus sweat blood for me and you! My prayers rarely bring a tear to my eye (and I'm emotional)! Why don't we pray with a passion for the Lord? He is our example and he prayed with a PASSION for each and every one of us. Don't we owe it to God, our Creator, to pray with passion and believe that he is the great I AM?

I look at the definitions of passion (at the beginning of this post) and realize two things. #1 - I need to have a passion for serving Christ and loving others. At the same time, I need to passionately hate satan and be aware of his schemes. #2 - I need to make Jesus, his word, walking in the Spirit my daily passion. How can this be done? I ask myself this and know that i will fail - no matter how much I desire these things for my life, I will fail at times . . . Why? . . . Because I am a sinner and I am selfish.

BUT (this is the great part) Jesus paid my price. And more than that, He came back to life. HE IS ALIVE! And Jesus is seated with God in Heaven waiting for us to come home. If I confess daily and make a choice to follow him and ask for his forgiveness, His blood makes me clean in the eyes of God. Romans 10:9 says, "If you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." We can eat at the Master's table for eternity!

If you are reading this and want to know more about the passion that I am talking about, read the book of John in the Bible. If that doesn't cut it or you don't have a Bible, visit www.therz.com. There is some great material there about what it means to be a christian. If you are reading this and realizing that you are lacking in your walk with Christ, I challenge you to ask yourself, "What am I passionate about? What is my passion?" If you aren't in line with Jesus, you need to do some serious re-evaluating.

Jesus is ready for you! He desires you more than a love story, battle, or winning a game. He wants you to be HIS Cinderella story! Will you let it happen?