A thought by Christine Caine from her book, Unstoppable: Running the Race You Were Born To Win (p. 126). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)
Do you have trouble getting out of bed each morning? Maybe you feel like your life is a closed-door? Do you?
Christine says, “When I look into the eyes of my husband and children, when I see lives transformed through ministry and love, when I see God multiply what we offer him and make our ‘not enough’ into more than enough, I taste this wide-open, expansive kind of life, and my passion to keep running the race grows.”
She goes on, “What is it that drives Olympic athletes to get up early, push through pain, set aside distractions to keep their focus, and maintain their commitment — for years? Passion.
“What keeps Kalli and all the rest of our A21 staff at locations around the world going day after day, year after year, even though they must repeatedly face the discouragement and emotional pain of seeing bruised and battered young women trapped in slavery? Passion.
“What keeps Katja and Favour, once brutalized slaves themselves, from descending into bitterness and instead, moving toward recovery and forgiveness? Passion.
“What kept the early Christians hard at work spreading the gospel, even though they saw their fellow believers imprisoned and tortured and knew that they themselves could be thrown into stadiums, where they would be torn to pieces by wild animals before a crowd fired by bloodlust? Passion.”
She continues, “Passion fuels the mother to stay up all night caring for her feverish child. Passion fuels a father to work two jobs to put his kids through college. Passion fuels a woman to care for her elderly, disabled father. Passion fuels a grandmother to set aside her dreams to care for her fatherless grandchildren. Passion drives the human heart to persevere through hardship when nothing else will keep us going.
“Jesus’ life on this earth was the ultimate picture of the passionate life. He embraced children, delighted in doing the will of the Father, healed the sick, loved the lost, helped the marginalized, dined with friends and neighbors, and gave his all to run his race. When I see Jesus and his cause, I glimpse the wide-open, spacious life he wants you and me to enjoy.”
Let him have your life. Let him fill you with his Spirit, let him fill you with his passion. So will you let him split open your closed-door self-focussed life into a wide-open one? Will you?
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