Don't you just love those moments when someone or something inspires you in such a way that your fires are stoked and you are anxious to do the thing you've been inspired to do? I know I love those moments. They are few and far apart, however this last Sunday we were given a sermon that stoked my fires in a way I don't think they've ever been. My heart still yearns greatly for what I've been inspired to do. But, before we get to what I desire to do, let us first discuss just what it was that I heard that created such a strong passion in me.
The sermon was about the cost of following Jesus. I have to say, this was a very well done sermon and our pastor should be commended for the way he presented it. The verses he used for this message were primarily Mark8:31-9:1. The way the message started was in revealing that for us to be able to follow Jesus it cost Him something. He had to suffer and die for us. I'm sure as Christians we've all heard that, but let us think a little deeper into this. You see, Jesus had a passion for this, He was going to do this regardless of all the resistance that was put against it. Jesus was well aware of what was in store and said it plainly, He talked of suffering and dying and rising again. What is the most amazing thing about this is that He knew what was coming and yet he was still passionate about doing it! This made me realize just how much He did for us. I don't think anyone could have gone through with it and fought those who opposed it as He did if they knew what exactly was coming. The sermon then continued on to tell us that there is a cost for us to follow Christ. He related to us what it could look like to follow Christ, the things of this world that we might be called to give up for the sake of the Gospel. These things built up in me, I realized that there were things in my life that were interfering with my service to God. That's where the conviction came and where my joy and passion set in.
I love playing games, specifically online games. The only problem with them is that I think about them, in fact, I would think about them so much that even when I should have been deep in the study of the Gospel I was thinking about what I wanted to do on the games when I finished my study. This thing that I was so passionate about was destroying my passion for God, my fires did not burn for Him that saved me because I was being distracted by a worthless thing in this life! What does this mean? It means I was storing up treasures for myself here, getting my instant, worldly gratification and neglecting my future. God tells us to store up our treasures in Heaven, where they are permanent, and here I was leaving my treasures here, where they would perish with the rest of the world. So these things stirred up the fire for God, it burned hot, so hot that it consumed the other fires in my heart. Now, even almost a week later these fires are burning, maybe I do not feel them as I did right after the sermon, but they still burn. I desire more than anything now to be willing to give up all for God and to do the work that He has for me, to bring Him glory and honor and to praise Him for all that He has done! My hope is that this fire burns ever hotter and that with each thing that God reveals to me or calls me to do that it is only further fueled and He will gain all the glory from it! Oh, what a great and wonderful God who stirs up the weak to do His will! I pray He stirs up all of us, that we may all do His work with as much passion as Jesus had to do the work upon the cross.
