If at all possible, I am on the court every day shooting basketball, every Friday, I spend all that money to see a movie at the theater, when I am tired and worn out, I roll off of the couch to go to church and serve with some of the most amazing people in the world.  Why do I do all these things so religiously? (well the church thing would make sense to be done “religiously” but you get my point)  The reason is because my heart beats for those things: basketball, movies, church, friends, family.  I have a passion for these things.

Webster defines passion as a strong liking or desire for or devotion to some activity, object, or concept.  I think a better definition would be craving.  I crave those things.  When I go 2 days without basketball, I start twitching and freaking out.  You are probably laughing at me about being so extreme about basketball, but if you think about it there is probably something that you are craving as well.  Maybe for you it is music, art, school, your future, family, Star Trek, Cheez-Its.  We are all crazy about something.

Psalm 37:4 says, “Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.”  God gives you those desires for those things.  You were created exactly the way you are, with the interests you have.

But notice the beginning of that verse: Delight yourself in the Lord.  We all crave the same thing, whether we know it or not.  There is a hole in your heart, and when you try to fill it with all these other thing you can never fill it.  Basketball, although I love it so much, does not bring me completion.  Friends, as much as I would sacrifice to make them happy, don’t fulfill me.  There is a giant hole in our hearts that can only be filled by one thing.  The hole in our hearts is God-shaped, and the only thing that can fill it is God.

Passion is great.  It drives us to do things that we would never do before, but passion is pointless if we miss out on the reason it was created.  Our passion when focused on God will drive us to change a broken world, love the rejected, do the impossible.  What is your passion?