Rick Warren said in a sermon he called, Reigniting your Passion for God, “The creative force behind all great art, all great drama, all great music, all great architecture, all great writing is passion. Nothing great is ever accomplished in life without passion. Nothing great is ever sustained in life without passion. Passion is what energizes life. Passion makes the impossible possible. Passion gives you a reason to get up in the morning and go, "I’m going to do something with my life today." Without passion life becomes boring. It becomes monotonous. It becomes routine. It becomes dull. God created you with the emotions to have passion in your life and He wants you to live a passionate life. Passion is what mobilizes armies into action. Passion is what causes explorers to boldly go where no man’s gone before. Passion is what causes scientists to spend late night hours trying to find the cure to a dreaded disease. Passion is what takes a good athlete and turns him or her into a great athlete where they’re breaking records. You’ve got to have passion in your life.”
I am preaching from The Psalms tomorrow. Psalms is a book of worship, and book of conviction, a book that is all about passion. Psalms is “full speed ahead.” It is not half-way, half-baked, or half anything. Psalms is “All or Nothing” for God. You cannot be a nominal believer and enjoy reading The Psalms. Does this sound wishy-washy, or half-hearted,
“O God, You are my God; I
Shall seek You earnestly;
My soul thirsts for You, my
Flesh yearns for You,
In a dry and weary land where
There is no water.
Thus I have seen You in the sanctuary,
To see Your power and Your glory.
Because Your lovingkindness is better than life,
My lips will praise You” (Psalm 63:1-3).
I do not know about you, but I want to be a person whose “…soul thirsts for God.” Are you that way this morning? Are you thirsty? Are you hungry for God? If you are so passionate you cannot be satisfied with anything less than a filling up with the great things of God.
John Piper said, “If you don’t feel strong desires for the manifestation of the glory of God, it is not because you have drunk deeply and are satisfied. It is because you have nibbled so long at the table of the world. Your soul is stuffed with small things, and there is no room for the great.”
Let’s not be a church full of “nibblers” today. Be passionate, be thirsty for the things of God, the great things that He alone provides.