‘He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, but not wholeheartedly.’ 2 Chronicles 25:2 NIV
The enemy of passion is indifference. You go through the motions, but your focus is broken by other things. It’s not that you have said no to God; it’s that you haven’t said a resounding yes! In the Old Testament account, King Amaziah ‘did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, but not wholeheartedly.’
Think about it: at what point does the passion leave a marriage? It doesn’t happen overnight. It happens when you neglect and take each other for granted. Maybe you think your lack of zeal is no big deal. Think again! Jeremiah warns about ‘a curse on anyone who is lax [negligent, slack, slipshod] in doing the Lord’s work!’ (Jeremiah 48:10 NIV)
You say, ‘How does it happen?’ The Bible tells us, ‘This people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes.’ (Acts 28:27 NIV) The word ‘calloused’ depicts a steady build-up of hard, dead skin on the soles of your feet until you can’t walk right or without pain. Note what Jesus told the first and last two churches in Revelation:
(1) ‘I hold this against you: you have forsaken the love you had at first. Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first.’ (Revelation 2:4–5 NIV)
(2) ‘I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm… I am about to spit you out of My mouth.’ (Revelation 3:15–16 NIV) With that in mind, the word for today is—be passionate about it!
SoulFood: Num 8–10, Matt 6:19–34, Ps 37:16–24, Pro 11:4
The Word for Today is authored by Bob and Debby Gass and published under licence from UCB International Copyright 2023
