The unchecked passions of a man's heart are a depraved wickedness that leads to his destruction...

Whoa, there, that's a little bit intense for a light-hearted blog, don't you think? Yeah, I just kind of dropped that bomb on you, didn't I? No lead in, no funny anecdote, no coasters, just BOOM there it is. Well, so since it's out there, what do you think of when you ponder that statement? Is it true? What are the passions that it refers to? How many questions am I going to ask before I get to the point????

Passion. In the right context, it is a supremely positive, constructive driving force of emotion, will, and desire. To be clear, I'm not narrowly referring to romantic or sexual passion, though that is certainly included, but rather passion that reaches through every aspect of a person's life. Without it, relationships simply fall apart and grow cold, tasks go unfinished, one's life becomes dull and meaningless. Passion is an integral part of our daily lives and in its purest form, brings love, peace, security, and consistent growth.

Unfortunately, there is the sin factor. The darkness that pervades our world and our very being. A sinister cancer afflicting all, sparing none. This cancer twists and skews, maligns and destroys the good, the right, the pure and true things created, promoted and provided by God for our benefit, and darkens our perception of these things. Every day, every moment we battle against this cancer which warps and confuses things like wisdom, good judgment, diligence, encouragement, faithfulness, bravery, orderliness, passion, and self-control in our minds and hearts and foists upon us foolishness, laziness, despair, infidelity, fear, chaos, destructive passions and a lifestyle that drinks from death's chalice.

From time to time in this battle we get weary - I get weary of the fight. I just want to rest and have some fun and excitement. "I want to get away", as Lenny Kravitz put it, "I want to fly away... yeah, yeah, yeah." As I allow the struggles of life to get me down, I find the good passions in my heart begin to wane - passions for pursuing my relationship with Jesus and seeking His will in my life, passion for my wife, my kids, my loved ones, passion for doing my job and other tasks to the best of my abilities, etc.

It is then that the cancer begins to grow, shifting my focus from the things that truly matter, to those of lesser importance. Seemingly inocuous passions for things that aren't necessarily bad in and of themselves, begin to take precidence in my heart and mind. I have a passion, obviously, for roller coasters and amusement parks, and if I don't keep that in check, it can consume all of my free time, searching for news, pictures, videos about them online and if I allowed it to get totally out of hand, I would spend all of my time and money visiting parks around the world. I am likewise facinated by computers and technology and could easily spend hours upon hours researching it, to the dismay of my family. I am ashamed to admit that, in the secret places of my heart, I sometimes would rather pursue my own selfish desires than spend time with my kids or help my wife do the dishes, and sometimes that is exactly what I do.

Thank God, the good news is that there is a cure for this cancer! The only cure. Jesus. The hard news is that when you agree to receive the cure, though you are absolutely guaranteed to be cured and perfected, it isn't immediate. In fact, for the entirety of the rest of your earthly life, you will experience the hand of God ripping and tearing the cancer out of you in ways that are sometimes exhilarating and other times excruciating which culminate with your physical death, at which point the cancer of sin is completely removed, you are perfected and you literally get to walk with the One who saved your life forever!

So, what are your passions? What do you devote your time and money to? Some, instead of pursuing their spouse, chuck their vows and choose to pursue another. Others prefer to pursue a little white ball around a golf course or are completely wrapped up in a myriad of other sports related activies, instead of attending to their marriage. Still others spend most of their waking hours at a job because they are tired of their responsibilities or all of the drama at home. The persuit of money, happiness, political agendas, fame - pick your poison.

But the most insidious, evil passion that can overtake a person? Simply put, any and every passion that pulls your heart away from Jesus. When my passions are misguided, I end up pursuing my own will instead of His and it becomes easy to forget that God's immense passion for us, caused Him to sacrifice His Son, Jesus, for our good. Every passion requires a sacrifice to pursue it, whether for good or evil. I must be willing to sacrifice my passion for the lesser things in order to pursue passion for the greater things.

To put it bluntly, Jesus said to take up your cross daily; allow me to suggest that if I'm unwilling to pick up my cross, I will pick up the hammer and nails instead, because those are the only two options. There are some who insist that the Jews crucified Jesus, but they are wrong. It was God the Father who decreed it, God the Son who willingly submitted to it, and it is I who hammer the nails that pierced Him each and every time I go my own way, mocking the very Sacrifice Who saved me. Let's look the Truth square in the face here: Jesus' sacrifice, salvation, and sanctification is not about everyone else in the world, it is personally about you. It is between you and Him. Stop distancing yourself from it by thinking that He died for the whole wide world, in some far off land, in some long ago time, at the hand of a bunch of wicked people, and realize that you, personally, nailed Him to the cross, spilling his blood on your hands, because you loved your wicked ways and despised Him.

Ouch. That last paragraph will either make you cry as you somberly reflect on what it means to you, or it will make you just plain mad. Either way, I only offer it as a way to picture the importance of pursuing passions in the light of Jesus' passion. Anyway, my life is far more fulfilling when I have my passions prioritized and balanced appropriately and we all want a fulfilling life, right? So, I just wanted to share that with you. It is my heart's desire that if you have not yet accepted "the Cure" for the cancer of sin, that you would do so and pursue knowing Him (Jesus), for that is the greatest passion in life.