Ask anyone and they will tell you I am a pretty passionate person.
The World Race was the perfect opportunity for this passion to become fully alive and the Lord was faithful to continue pouring fuel on the fire at every turn. For the most part, all the World Racers operated fully passionate about Jesus all the time. Climbing in cabs, long waits in line at the bank, meals in restaurants, etc…all of these were opportunities for us to channel our passion for Jesus into everyone around us. World Racers as a whole are a pretty passionate bunch. We ate passionately, cried passionately, prayed passionately, loved each other passionately, etc…you get the point. We truly lived a life of passion for 11 months.
I have been home for two and a half weeks and feel like someone has stuck a big, fat, needle in my passion. When you first buy a balloon it is so full, so high; after a few days it starts to sink closer and closer to the ground. You can still bat it around and get it to lift again, but the force of gravity then takes over and it sinks again until eventually it is useless and laying on the ground. Lord, I really don’t want my passion to sink. That is my constant prayer.
At the risk of sounding like Debbie Downer I wil say that I feel like America is lacking passion and zeal. No one here really gets very excited about much of anything. There is AMAZING food in this country, we have access to internet everywhere, we have cars with air conditioning; heck, we have whole houses with air conditioning and RUNNING, hot water! I mean, it really doesn’t get any better than that! We are free to worship the LIVING GOD anytime, anywhere, any place, but when we get there we mildly sing a few lines and mutter under our breaths how we are sick of that song, or it is too loud, or we don’t know the tune. I sat in church and worshiped a passionate God with the passion of an ant today. Why? Because no one else looked too passionate and I certainly didn’t want to rock the boat.
I lived in a culture for 11 months where we ate more passionately than I have ever seen people eat, we literally ran out of bathrooms screaming in excitement if there was toilet paper, and we fell down in passion worshiping God. It was a life of passion! We are all the same people who grew up in this seemingly passion-less society and yet the Lord released us to lead these crazy, full lives. I HAVE to believe that this passion is locked inside all of us. We are all made by the living, breathing, passionate God who desires us to have abundant life!
So, what is stopping us?
Could it be our schedules? Our cell phones? Our huge credit card bills? Our fear of man?
A lot of us run around claiming to be Christians, and the definition of that is a follower of Christ. If we are truly striving to follow Christ, then aren’t we supposed to be acting like Him? And wasn’t he a pretty 
passionate guy? I remember stories of him turning over tables in the temple, changing water to wine and raising people from the dead. If that isn’t passion, then what is? And where can we get some?
In John 8: 28 Jesus says “…and I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me.”
Jesus tells us right here where to get that passion. From the Father. He is not distracted by ringing cell phones, emails to answer, bills to pay, and what others will say about him. He is focused on one thing and one thing only: his Father.
When our focus becomes the Father all else fades away and we can live this passionate lifestyle. And the best thing about the whole deal is that this is what he wants for us. He desires for us to live passionate, full lives; abundant lives! “I have come that they may have life and have it to the full!” John 10:10
The challenge to you and to me: go out and live an abundant life. Get excited and shout for joy because there is toilet paper in the bathroom! Rejoice when you get the farthest parking spot in the lot because that is more time outside in the sunshine! Dance for joy when you miss the green arrow and get to sing along in your car a little longer at the red light! Fall down in absolute worship to your KING in church next week. They might look at you funny, but I promise Jesus is thrilled that you only have eyes for HIM.
