PASSION FOR PERFECTION

“When You said, “Seek My face,” My heart said to You, “Your face, LORD, I will seek” – Psalm 27: 8

The Maximized Life in Christ demands PASSION FOR PERFECTION: “When You said, “Seek My face,” My heart said to You, “Your face, LORD, I will seek” (Psa.27:8). Although God performs our perfection, our passion remains primary. The key to abundant life on earth is the passionate pursuit of Jesus. But, we often fail to show that we truly believe this in our hearts. Otherwise, our lives would play out drastically different: how we spend time; whether we pursue God’s Presence over entertainment; and how we give attention to the structure of our personal and corporate devotions. We would cease working for the opinion of men and start living for the good pleasure of our Creator. And our lives will look more like the life of Jesus.

Passion Drives Perfection! Our Lord Jesus says: “’Love the Lord your God with every passion of your heart, with all the energy of your being, and with every thought that is within you” (Mt.22:37-38, The Passion Translation). Alas, it is possible to abandon one’s love for God. The Lord told the Church of Ephesus: “Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place – unless you repent” (Rev.2: 4-5). The sign that they had left their FIRST LOVE – the passionate love they had for Him – was that they had ceased in their FIRST WORKS!

The Lord says to us, “Seek My face.” We should be able to reply as David did: “My heart says to You, “Your face, LORD, I will seek'” (v.8)? All that stands between us and a radical life transformation is turning away from the cares and pursuits of the world and committing our hearts to our heavenly Father. We have a daily opportunity to live in total communion with our Creator, receiving and giving love in everything we do. Jesus paid the ultimate price for us to live in the reality of God’s love. We shouldn’t live marginal lives of partial communion with God – living for the fleeting and unsatisfying ways of the world.

Passion is a Heart Matter! Our heart condition and thought life, not circumstances, determine the depth of our passion for God. Hence, the Lord says: “REPENT and do the first works” (Rev.2:5) – change your inner self; your old way of thinking and sinful behaviour; seek God’s will and do the works you did when you first knew Jesus. Beloved, what is your heart condition? Is your heart hard or soft? Are you honest or deceitful? Are you humble or defensive? Are you responsive to God’s word or apathetic? What do your life’s priorities, choices, and decisions reflect about your passion for God? Are you in pursuit of God or the world and its comfort and pleasures?

1 John 2: 15-20 (New Living Translation) says: “Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.” There is grace today: “Seek the Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near…” (Isa.55:6-7). It’s time to wake up to the true purpose for our lives; to give our lives to the wholehearted pursuit of Jesus (Mt.6:33).  

Beloved, the choice is yours today. Will you passionately pursue relationship with Jesus, or will you allow the ways of this world to crowd out parts of your life like weeds blocking you from the refreshing, life-giving presence of the living God? “Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the Lord!” (Psa.27:14).