Restore your passion
“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:21
The past couple of years have caused many to reflect on what matters most to them, on what is truly important in life. Maybe you have done some pondering yourself. People discovered a new passion for baking bread and for walking. Some people decided they had had enough of the rat-race and preferred the work from home lifestyle. People rediscovered their passion for reading Our focus today as we continue praying and fasting is on restoring our passion the right way.
It is ok to enjoy the many good things God created for us – indeed He intends for us to eat bread with joy (Ecclesiastes 9:7) and to eat meat with thankfulness (Romans 14:6). He created many wonderful experiences in life for our enjoyment. But He did not create them to be our ultimate passion. The pursuit of more physical pleasure or a more satisfying lifestyle should not be our chief goal. Above all our passion should be for more of God’s glory in our life.
Jesus warns us in the Sermon on the Mount that where our treasure is, there our heart will be also. He is teaching us that our heart, our ultimate passion, will be wherever our treasure is. If we treasure and value earthly things – be it money, fancy cars or designer clothes – as our passion above all else, that is where our heart will be. And earthly treasures will always end up rusted, decayed or moth-eaten. But if we value and treasure God then our heart will be in heaven. If He is our ultimate passion, then we can have assurance that our treasure will never fade or be destroyed. We can have confidence that the things we devote our life to will last into eternity.
Maybe your passion for God has grown dim in recent years. Maybe you started out strong in your faith and now that passion had dulled. As we continue this season of prayer and fasting this is an opportunity to restore your passion. Make this a year of resolving to remember all the things Jesus has done for us. As you ponder on the amazing truth that the King of kings left the glory of the throne of heaven to come to the humility of a Bethlehem manger and then the indignity of death on a cross, the hands of the Creator pierced for the sake of creation, so that we could be restored to a relationship with God our perfect loving Father, let that restore your passion. Remind yourselves of the simple truths of the gospel that we can so often overlook but which when we take time to reflect on will restore our passion and fire us up with enthusiasm for taking that great news of grace and mercy to those around us.
Prayer focus
Ask God to restore and rekindle into flame your passion for His name. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you make this a year when you treasure growth in your relationship with God above all else.
