Passion for God… Turn the Knob Up to High!

By Pam Piersma

What does it mean to have a passion for God? Being in the kitchen a lot, I like to think of passion for God as the temperature knob on the stove burner. If you’re a Christian, then yes, the burner is on and that’s great, but where do we go from there? What does God expect of us? Or should we say, what does God desire from us?

It’s not like a burner set on low does nothing. It can reheat things slowly or keep what we have cooked warm for a while. Can you imagine trying to do all of your cooking with only the low option? Would those hard potatoes ever get soft? Would that piece of meat do anything but become host to a colony of bacteria? Likewise, a low heat, low-intensity walk with Christ is not going to accomplish all it should either. We will not be satisfied expecting so little of God, and God will not be satisfied that we have so little interest in knowing and loving him more. It may seem a bit foreign to many of us, but the word that should best describe the Christian life is passionate. Turn that burner up all the way to high and you will find out what you’ve been missing!

Do we forget what a passionate God we serve? We see the beauty and intricacy of his creation all around us. He does nothing half-heartedly! He made us in His very image, and He is amazing. Every one of us is unique and perfectly known by the Almighty God! Sometimes we wonder, how inter ested in people, in me, is God really? Why would He care so much about someone so messed up with so many issues, like me? Wouldn’t He just prefer to watch us from afar and keep His hands clean from our mess? The cross of Christ tells us all we need to know about God’s passion for us. He paid the ultimate price so we could once again be able to be reunited with Him. He sacrificed His only son for us. Which of us would honestly choose to sacrifice our own son or daughter for anything? I have to say, for me, that just isn’t going to happen. Not even the noblest cause would prompt me to sacrifice my own children. Yet, God did that for us, voluntarily, when we were His enemies!

I remind myself often that I really don’t know what life with God here on earth was supposed to be like. Only two regular humans did, Adam and Eve, and even they only knew this for a short time before they were exiled from the Garden of Eden. I would love to take walks with God and have Him speak to me out loud, wouldn’t you? What would it be like to hang out with God? We know this somewhat through the Holy Spirit, but not the same way Adam and Eve did. Do we remember that God made people to be His friends? I am so glad that one day in heaven, we will know what this type of direct relationship is like with God.

So what now, we ask. I realize I have not invested much in my relationship with God or wanted what He has to offer that much either. How do I change this, what do I do? This is what I love… the answer is, we just ask God for passion for Him. That’s it. We don’t have to spend years lamenting our lost time or pleading for God’s forgiveness. We plain and simple ask Him for help to know and love Him more. He is always happy to give us that help. I wonder if there is any request He loves more. I’m not saying it will be easy because changes taking place in our hearts do require a lot of trust and obedience. We will be asked to reorder our lives and do things God’s way, not our own. We will never regret it though! We will always look back to the day when we realized the Christian life is one of passion as the beginning of true living.

Where is that knob set today for you? I like to remember how many recipes of mine require that I turn the burner up to high until the water boils, and then the cooking begins. The same is true of the Christian life. We give God all we have and then we will know what true living is all about.

Pam Piersma is from rural Otsego, Michigan. Pam met her husband Mitch at Taylor University in Indiana, where they both studied music education. They have four children, three of which are in college. By day, Pam works at their city’s local shoppers newspaper but her real passion is spending time lifting up the greatness of God through writing and music. We serve such an amazing God and He wants a relationship with us. How can we keep quiet? You can check out Pam’s blog at reluctantdreamerblog.wordpress.com.

Psalm 107:29 (NIV) - He stilled the storm to a whisper; the waves of the sea were hushed.