People of Passion

Paul was not the only person who was passionate about Jesus and the ministry the Lord called him to. Paul’s passion was not without precedent. Hundreds of years before Saul became Paul we see a shepherd who becomes king. David became the second kind of Israel, described as a man after God’s own heart. Put another way, David was a young man who had grasped God’s vision for his life, a man whose service and worship exemplified the spirit and commitment of a person in deep relationship with God and who was devoted to carrying out the special tasks God had ordained for him.

You cannot read the psalms that he wrote without being struck by his passion to know and serve God. You come to realize how much he came to know about himself, who God created him to be and what God had called him to do (see yesterday’s blog). You cannot overlook the clear sense of the future that God had instilled within him. Like all visionary leaders, David was human and, as such, made mistakes. But one of his redeeming qualities was his burning desire to remain true to the vision for the future that God had placed in his heart, which God allowed him to work towards despite the frailties of his human nature.

Nehemiah was another man of vision – who knew himself and the plans and purpose of God for his life. Nehemiah, in spite of severe opposition, stayed focused and stood firm on the basis of the God-given vision – the very work “my God had put in my heart to do for Jerusalem.” (Nehemiah 2:12).

Moses at the age of 80 confirms a long-standing call on his life that he had screwed up earlier in life – trying to ‘do’ before he had opportunity to “be” and become all God wanted him to become. Like all true visions imparted by God, the vision entrusted to Moses did not focus upon satisfying people’s selfish desires but upon a selfless quest to reconcile the world to its Creator.

In the process of freeing God’s people and fulfilling the vision for his life and ministry, Moses lived a nomadic, uncomfortable life for four decades, leading an unruly, disrespectful, unhappy, whining band of people through times of sacrifice, doubt, pain and discomfort. But driven by God’s vision for leading those people, Moses remained passionate and a faithful servant of God.

God is still looking for people of passion who have discovered their God, themselves, and their calling. People like the diminutive Albanian woman who became Mother Teresa and an unknown Baptist preacher who led the civil rights movement in the United Sates – Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

In each and every case – God built the character needed in the person, called the person, and supplied them their vision. He wants to do the same with you … will you let Him?