“Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors. (AMP) Proverbs 8:34
“Happy is the man who is so anxious to be with me that he watches for me daily at my gates or waits for me outside my home! For whoever finds me finds life and wins approval from the Lord.” (Living Bible) Proverbs 8:34-35
Once when I was single I lived in a flat up in the bush clad Waitakere Ranges above Auckland. I had 2 cats and the landladies’ Alsatian/Labrador as my only companions. They adored me and were always waiting for me at the gate when I got home after work. I rode a Honda motorbike at the time which had a distinct sound and they could pick it up as I rode towards the house through the bush from some miles away. They were always waiting for me when I arrived home and were so excited to see me. The dog would run around in circles crying and the cats dashed onto the road, it was really cute to see.
God says ‘blessed,’ ‘to be envied’ and ‘highly favoured’ is the man who is keen, excited, and anxious to greet the Lord, watching and waiting for Him daily at His doors. We may not be outside every day running around in circles and crying, but we desperately need to have a passion for Jesus. The question is; “Do we long for Him every day?”
Something that really scares me in these last days is not my bank balance, my health, the dangers of catching covid or suicide bombers but of losing my passion for Jesus. There have been times in my life when I was not anxious to spend time with Him anymore and I lost my sense of expectation and desperateness for Jesus. I was no longer watching and waiting on Him every day.
It sad to think that you would rather be with people and things than with God. That you would rather be doing anything else but being in His presence and soaking in His word.
The bible warns us that in the Last Days the love of many will grow cold. That’s not just for people, but for God.
“Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.” Matthew 24:12-13
These are perilous times in which we live in, not so much from the dangers of disease, war, tsunamis or earthquakes, but the danger of losing our passion for Jesus in the midst of the busyness and cares of this life. We may have been ‘red hot’ for Jesus when we were first got saved but what about now? Remember that it’s not so much how you start the race that counts, but how you end it that matters.
The bible says that ‘he that endures to the end that will be saved.’ It’s our love and passion for Jesus and others that are under threat and not so much our Christian Traditions.
We may have Christmas taken from us with all the pretty lights and even Good Friday which would be a shame, but the real concern is our personal loss of a passion for Jesus. We can be outwardly professing our devotion to Him and not realise that it’s all an act and we are just a going through the motions. This is a symptom of the days in which we live. The trouble is we have been brought up in these conditions and don’t realise how far they are from God’s standards.
“For [although] they hold a form of piety (true religion), they deny and reject and are strangers to the power of it [their conduct belies the genuineness of their profession]. 2 Tim 3:5.
In Luke 2:41-49 we read of how Jesus and his parents went up to Jerusalem to the annual Passover feast. Mary and Joseph had gone 3 days and didn’t know that Jesus was missing. They were so busy with their friends, the cares of this life and ‘churchy’ things, that they never noticed Jesus wasn’t there anymore. We too can be so involved in other things that we don’t notice that He’s missing; we don’t notice that He has withdrawn Himself. Our Christianity can be reduced to a loveless set of rules and we just go through the motions with no passion for Jesus anymore.
When you are really in love with someone you immediately know when they aren’t there anymore. It’s because you were in love and always watching and waiting for them.
You may not have much money, but to having a passion for Jesus is a wealth far greater than any earthly treasure of silver and gold. When you are passionate for Jesus you are indeed rich beyond the wealth of Bill Gates or Elon Musk.
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” Matthew 5:6
The question is, are you hungry for God? Are you longing to hear from Him? Is prayer something that you couldn’t live without or is your Christianity just a repetitious formula? Those who find this passion for God find real life and win the approval of the Lord. Proverbs 8:35. Don’t you want to hear the Master say, “Well done good and faithful servant?”
The Lord promises great blessing upon those who will make Him their treasure more than the treasures of the world. When we take delight in the Lord our prayers become far more powerful. Just look at this amazing verse.
“Submit to God, and you will have peace; then things will go well for you. Listen to his instructions, and store them in your heart. If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored - so clean up your life. If you give up your lust for money and throw your precious gold into the river, the Almighty himself will be your treasure. He will be your precious silver! “Then you will take delight in the Almighty and look up to God. You will pray to him, and he will hear you, and you will fulfill your vows to him. You will succeed in whatever you choose to do, and light will shine on the road ahead of you. If people are in trouble and you say, ‘Help them,’ God will save them. Even sinners will be rescued; they will be rescued because your hands are pure.” Job 22:21-30
The trouble is we can start off red hot for Jesus, but eventually cool off. Look at this verse in the Revelation. The Ephesus Church used to be on fire but they left their first love. They were patient, worked hard and hated evil and could spot a false prophet easily. But Jesus said they had one thing missing. They had lost their love for Jesus.
There are a lot of Christians who are very passionate about many things; from End Times, moral issues, the poor, injustice and politics but their love for Jesus is missing. You can spend hours involved in these ‘Christian’ things but hardly spend any time with Him, and He cares. Jesus can just end up as an optional extra.
“Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love.” Revelation 2:4
We need to guard our hearts with all diligence in these turbulent days. The secret is to keep our eyes single, focused on Him as much as we can. When our eye is single the whole body will be full of light.
“The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light.” Matthew 6:22
Its very much like a magnify glass. You have to keep it at the right position for an extended period of time so that fire can break out. Its like this in our relationship with Jesus as well. If we flutter around from one thing to another then we don’t catch alight for Jesus. We become a ‘Jack of all Trades’ but a master of none.
I was reading the other day, that the way to kill a man’s dream is to give him another one. We lose our focus and passion for Jesus when we are involved in too many things, and the Devil knows this.
Remember how the Lord wants us to guard our passion for Him as much as we would protect our personal treasures.