Passion Like Paul

Thank you Lord for the privilege of spending another day on this earth. Help me to use my time wisely, to love you more when I fall asleep than when I first woke up, and to always be striving for Your Glory.

I desire to have passion like Paul did. For one of my classes this semester I was assigned to write a lesson plan and then group teach the lesson over Philippians 1:12-30. We taught yesterday and my part of the teaching was specifically in regards to verses 22-27a. Paul struggles with this dichotomy of desiring to depart and be with Christ and yet realizing the need for him to remain on earth for the furtherance of the gospel and for the encouragement of the believers. It really made me reflect on my own life, my own desires, my own heart. A dangerous thing. Do I have that passion for Heaven? That desperate longing to shed this earthly body and be united with my Lord? No, not as I should. I get far too caught up in my life, my struggles, my hurts, my physical needs and wants, what's going on around me, etc. I focus far too often on this world and all of its trappings and far too little on what will last forever.

Then, conversely, do I see the need to remain on this earth as Paul did? Ultimately he realized that, even though his passionate desire was to be with Christ, it was far more necessary for him to remain on in the flesh. This necessity, however, is not brought on by his selfish desires, but rather a burden to continue the gospel and to build up the body of Christ. Why do I want to live? What's my motivation for each day? Is it to make money, to hang out with friends, to live for me? Or is it because I have a burden for the lost? Do I have a burden for the lost? There are nights that I cry myself to sleep because Christ has broken me for His people, but those nights do not happen often enough. So often it seems that my heart desires God, but not His people. But then, is my heart even truly desiring God?

What is my motivation? What is my burden? What is my passion? Lord, let it be You. Let it be Your will. Let it be for Your people. Let my heart break for the lost, the hurting, the poor, the sick, the lonely, and the heartbroken. Let my life reflect Your Glory. Isaiah 55:8-9 says, "'For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways', declares the Lord. 'For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.'" Lord, change my thoughts, my heart, my patterns of thinking to be more focused and more in tune with Your thoughts and Your ways.