Are you following your passion?

We call this week Passion Week. I don’t come from a liturgical background so I’ve never really understood the term. It just felt like a holy term that didn’t really connect with humanity…so I decided to investigate.

The answer is quite simple, but the application is mind blowing.

According to Wikipedia, “The Passion is the Christian theological term used for the events and suffering – physical, spiritual, and mental – of Jesus in the hours before and including his trial and execution by crucifixion.”

Putting this in different terms, Jesus followed his passion, to bring us into relationship with God, and was willing to endure whatever it took to make that happen. Ephesians 5:1 says we need to be imitators of God. Jesus was our example of living out passion.

What is your passion? What would you lay down everything to make happen?

God created each of us for a purpose. Some of us are doers, others thinkers, some connectors, some are peacemakers…and each of us was created for a reason. I believe that when we connect the person we were created to be with the purpose we were created to fulfill, we will find our passion.

Here are some questions to help you connect the dots:

• If you could do only one thing, what would it be?
• You probably don’t care about a lot of things, but one thing makes you speak up…what is it?
• If you had to focus your study on one subject, what would you pick?
• What is the one thing you think most people find as a barrier that should be removed?

Now let’s think about your approach:

• Are you a doer?
• Do you need to stand up and proclaim?
• Would you rather ponder the issue and find the right answer before acting?
• Do you want to gather a group and find ways to make a difference?

Jesus was a bit of all this. He proclaimed, he healed, he taught, and he gathered a group. The focus of His study was a relationship with the Father. He found that to be the one thing people needed barriers removed for, and because all of this was his focus, he did whatever was necessary to make a personal relationship with God the Father available to everyone.

• He disappointed his friends (see Martha, Mary and the disciples)
• He gave personally (the cross)
• He withstood people not understanding and ridicule (the road to the cross)
• Just to name a few

If you don’t know Jesus personally, you need to fix that. Open your heart Him, accept your need and let Him meet you where you are at.

Most of you who read this blog do know Jesus – but are you living your passion? You were created for a purpose. What do you need to do today to start down the road?