One of the most important things we can do as we strive to keep God first in our lives is to develop a passion for Him.
Passion means having strong feelings for something or someone-there is no lukewarm “mmm, let me think about it” here! When we have passion for someone, there is an intensity we feel, a warmth in our hearts, a strong attraction that isn’t easily lost.
At our Wives of Faith meeting last night here in Nashville, we were talking about marriage and I asked all of the women to share how they met their husbands. Just about everyone there told how they knew their husbands for a while before they actually started dating, some since grade school. By spending more and more time with him, each wife developed a passion for her future husband, looking forward to each moment she could have to see him, talk to him, be with him.
We can develop passion for God the same way. By spending time with Him, by reading His Word, by spending time in prayer. We’re not talking hours a day. I think we make this idea of a relationship with God a lot harder, more complicated, than it actually is. Deep down we keep thinking that there is a “good” checklist we are always working on, and only when all of those things are checked can we then say we have a good relationship with God. But God doesn’t ask for that or expect it – He just wants us as we are.
Check out what Psalm 119:1-8 says in the Message:
You’re blessed when you stay on course, walking steadily on the road revealed by God.
You’re blessed when you follow his directions, doing your best to find him.
That’s right – you don’t go off on your own: you walk straight along the road he set.
You, God, prescribed the right way to live: now you expect us to live it.
Oh, that my steps might be steady, keeping to the course you set;
Then I’d never have any regrets in comparing my life with your counsel.
I thank you for speaking straight from your heart;
I learn the pattern of your righteous ways.
I’m going to do what you tell me to do; don’t ever walk off and leave me.
“His directions” and His “road” can only be found when we stay in sync with Him on a daily basis, reading from the Bible and spending time in prayer. That’s it! How often do you spend more time reading what another Christian writes about how to be closer to God than actually taking time to read what God has to say about it in His own Book?
Don’t get me wrong – books on Christian living can be very helpful. I write Christian living, after all. 
BUT – here’s what I discovered myself a couple of years ago: I was reading more from what other people had to say about God than what God had to say. I even got to the point where if there was scripture quoted in the book, I would skip right over it. Not a whole lot of passion there for God, right?
My pastor pointed out this past week that “our passion must be for God Himself, not just for what He does for us.” We love God for what He delivers, what He makes happen, what He changes for the better, but do we love Him for who He is? That only happens when we truly get to know Him, and that only happens when we spend time with Him.
Look at what 1 Timothy 4:7 says -
Exercise daily in God – no spiritual flabbiness, please! Workouts in the gymnasium are useful, but a disciplined life in God is far more so, making you fit both today and forever.
When I work out in the gym, I find the more I do it, the more I want to keep doing it. It’s the same with spending time with God. I get so excited now when I pick up my Bible. That didn’t happen a year ago.
That’s around the time I decided that I wanted to read the Bible cover to cover just to read it, just to know everything that was in there, just to enjoy it the same way I enjoyed reading other books. I used the Message version and it has been such a joy to do. Now, there have been days, sometimes a week or more that I missed – life got in the way. But I picked it back up and kept going, and often whatever I read that day there were verses that jumped out and God used them to speak to me.
We are nearing the end of 2008 and 2009 is just around the corner. Many of you may be thinking, next year, I want to read the Bible from cover to cover. Maybe you already have a daily reading Bible or one of the many guides or plans out there that is supposed to help you accomplish that goal.
May I make two suggestions? Ditch the reading plan and just read. And second, don’t wait till Jan. 1 to get started. Pick up your Bible today and begin. Ask God to reveal Himself more and more to you as you spend time in His Word.
Tomorrow: Making Time for Prayer
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