Passion for Life
by Dr. Randall Worley (Transformational Thinking)
The worst threat in life is not death, but that we die without ever really knowing how to live. Ironically studies show that people have a greater fear of living than they do of dying.
Individuals that are convicted of capitol crimes are often given a "life sentence". We know this to be a life lived imprisoned by a monotous routine without the possibility of release. The sentence reduces the convicted to a zombie like state of mind. The dimensions of their prison cell and the insurmountable walls that surround them feeds an inescapable sense of futlity. When we think of a prisons we think of high stone walls, razor wire and guard towers that house the incorrigible. But the worst kind of prison is the kind we build within ourselves. Feeling trapped by our perceived limitations. Dreading getting up to go to the same job, driving the same route, working with the same people. Debt that influences every decision you make. Feeling that money or the lack of it makes every decision in your life.
I know many people that may not wear a orange jump suit with a number on it but are clothed in an attitude of apathy and passivity because of the prison they have built over the years between their ears.
Many believers look forward to the hope of life after death while never really understanding that their is life after birth. Life as Jesus intended it is not a "life sentence" with the greatest days being the day you were born again and awaiting the day of your release via the rapture. Too many simply endure and never enjoy the journey called life. Jesus said "the thief come to kill, steal, and to destroy but I am come that you might have life and have it more abundantly!" Who or what is the thief that steals this abundant life that is our inheritance? The hinges of the door of this inner prison we have created swing open when we identify the thief.
It may seem strange at this point to turn to the subject of worry. However, worry is the antitheses of passion. Worry drains us of energy and enthusiasm leaving us emotionally anemic. Jesus describes the effects of worry in Matthew 6:31 "Therefore take not thought, saying What shall we eat? or What shall we drink? or, Where-withal shall we be clothed." Eventhough the word worry is not used in this passage it is implied by the word "thought". This is a kind of habitual thinking. The kind of mental mazes we get into by always thinking of problems rather than possibilities.
The culture is very familar with obsessive disorders that cripple even the most gifted individuals. These mental mazes have resulted in the loss of income and quality of life. Mark 4:19 "The cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in choke the word and it becomes unfruitful." The word worry literally means to "choke" or suffocate. We are to live "inspired" lives. Inspiration or being "in-spirited" is God breathing in us and through us. Worry asphyxiates the passion we should be breathing.
We all as adults envy the undaunted enthusiam and energy of children bubbling over with a passion for life. They unlike us, have not been introduced to worry. I remember well when my sons were small hearing them from the back seat of the car yelling "look dad, look dad!! Only to discover that they were seeing something for the first time that was common place to me. They lived in wonderment while I lived in worry.
We were children that matured, got married, and got a mortgage. It has always been interesting to me that the word mortgage is in the same family of words as mortuary. Don't misunderstand I have one but the only way in todays volatile market to maintain sanity and a passion for life is to remember that "life does not consist in the abundance of things."
It may seem rediculous to make the following comparison. But when growing up at home my sons never expressed a concern over whether or not our bills were paid. They never gave one thought to how much money it took to pay our mortgage or put food on the table. They trusted in my ability as their father to provide. When we worry over these things we fail to remember that "If we being evil know how to give good things to our children how much more will the heavenly father give good things to them that ask."Matt. 7:11
Passion produces life. It is the passion of a husband and wife that results in the conception of life. But some where along the way that life that was conceived in passion loses passion as we lose our sense of wonder. When you were first born again you were overjoyed as a little child. Your passion for Him eclipsed every concern. All of us who are taking life too serioulsly need to ask Him to restore the joy of our salvation.
ORDER THE SERIES "A PASSION FOR LIFE" FOR THE REST OF THIS STUDY.
you so much!
by business finance software
August 10th, 2010 (09:08)