Keep the fire burning

The fire crackled, burning bright. I could feel the heat from where I was sitting. It was a crisp night—a perfect night for a fire. The family was roasting marshmallows, laughing as they tried to shove the whole s'more into their mouth. Half of the gooey marshmallow stuck to my son's cheek.

 

I love campfires. I can sit there and watch for hours and not be bored. And as I sat there this time, without even realizing it, after some time, the heat had dwindled. It was still hot, but not as it was. Then more time passed and there was more white than there were the bright reds, yellows, and oranges.

 

I know what will happen if I don't throw another log on. So, I did. And within minutes, the fire was hot and bright once again. As I sat there again, I thought of passion.

 

Passion. Now that's a word. When you hear the word, "passion", what comes to your mind?

 

Perhaps that word elicits a romantic thought for you. Or maybe a fiery person. Or one who stands up proudly for their cause. Whatever you think about, passion is necessary to avoid the lethargy, the complacency, the apathy of this life.

 

You and I weren't meant to live a life of complacency; we were meant for passion. So, what is passion? How do we find it? How does passion combat complacency?

 

First, passion is more than just excitement. Perhaps that's a modern-day synonym.

 

Someone might say, "He was passionate about that team." But that's not really the same.

 

Passion isn't just a strong emotion, fueled by likes or dislikes. Passion is a fueled desire that continues for a long time. That's right. Passion isn't a flash in a pan. It is consistent, it's a commitment. It's something you engage and don't let go. Passion is engaging what you love, enduring through the struggle and the pain, and staying committed to it.

 

The crazy thing is you don't "find" passion. I know we use that phrase. "You have to find your passion." But it's really not the truth. Rather, passion is forged. It's developed over time, by both positive and negative experiences. I know, crazy. Passion is actually formed through the good and the bad. Passion without the problems is actually a mirage. It's not really passion. We need the hard things of life, the uphill climbs, the difficulties and the desert seasons to shape who we are. In order to truly have a passion for something, we have to see the value in it. If something doesn't have value, we do very little to pursue it.

 

Think about that for a moment. Let's take Jesus' parables in Luke 15 for an example. The shepherd has 100 sheep, and 1 goes astray. What led the shepherd to leave the 99 to find the 1? Passion! A love for his sheep and a desire for no sheep to be lost. The woman has 10 coins, and one gets lost. What led the woman to search diligently to find the 1?

Passion!

 

That coin had both monetary and intrinsic value, and she had passion that led her to search high and low for that coin. The father had 2 sons, and 1 goes prodigal. What led that father to search the countryside for his son? Passion! That son, made in the image of God, was lost and the father's love for his son was greater than the sin the son committed.

In His greatest sermon, Jesus said, "Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Yes, Jesus was referring to money, but I believe He was teaching us wherever we invest anything, will ultimately impact our attentions and our affections-our mind and our heart.

The opposite of passion is complacency. Complacency is really just emotional and spiritual auto-pilot. Now, when you're cruising at 30,000 feet on a trip from MSP to, pick any city in the world, auto-pilot is great. The pilot can sit back, relax, talk to the cabin, read a book, even. Completely acceptable (the book, maybe not). Complacency causes that passion, that fire burning in you to cool, to fail to produce the result it once did. Auto-pilot.

 

Comfortable complacency is the bitter enemy of passionate love for Jesus. It's like sitting at the fire, just staring, wondering what changed. The truth is...you did. Not because you actively rebelled against God, but because you simply neglected stoking the fire.

 

So, we said we don't really find passion, we form it. So how do we "stoke the fire"? How do we forge the passion for God? We ask ourselves deep, important, and formative questions.

 

And we ask other people these same questions and we invite them to ask us. Here are some questions to get us moving: What am I feeding most? What am I thinking about most?

 

What am I investing in most? What am I pursuing most? Where am I spending the most time, money, energy, and attention? Be careful as you answer them, for passion follows these answers most closely.

 

So, with the little space I have left, how do we return to our first and highest passion-our love for God and our neighbors? First, engage in your relationship with God daily. Even one day is enough time for our passion to cool. Spend time with Him, pray, read His Word, study it, memorize it. Passion longs for daily presence, while complacency is satisfied with memory. Stay connected with Christ. Second, engage in your relationship with others regularly. You need spiritual community to keep the fire going. If you don't, you will cool very quickly. Third, point out areas in your life that you are neglecting, that are distracting, or that have become too busy. Confess that those things that are causing complacency and then return to our Father who has been searching for you.

 

And when you do these things, it's like throwing a log on the fire of your soul. That's how you keep the fire burning.