Religion, Relationship, Passion
Contributor
Written by
Lissa Litka
May 2011
Contributor
Written by
Lissa Litka
May 2011

 

re·li·gion/riˈlijen/Noun

1. The belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, esp. a personal God or gods.
2. Details of belief as taught or discussed.

re·la·tion·ship/riˈlāSHenˌSHip/Noun
1. The way in which two or more concepts, objects, or people are connected, or the state of being connected.

pas·sion/ˈpaSHen/Noun
1. Strong and barely controllable emotion.
2. A state or outburst of such emotion. 

What makes a good relationship?  Is it time spent together?  How about shared interests?  Where does communication fit in? 

All of these things are important in cultivating a good relationship.  The definition of relationship is the state of being connected.  I like that.  I like feeling connected.  Connected to my husband.  Connected to my kids.  Connected to my friends.  Connected to my God.  God created us with a need to be connected, the need for community, support.  But, ultimately He wants us to connect to Him.  This is so important to Him, in fact, that things just don’t seem to run as smoothly when we’re disconnected.  So, what causes us to unplug from our Power Source? 

Obviously, lots of things can come into play.  Life gets hectic.  People get sick.  Bills need to be paid.  Work needs to be done.  Trials arise.  It’s easy to let any one of these things unplug us from God, let alone when they begin to pile on top of each other.  We give them precedence over our relationship with Christ.  They seem more urgent.  We convince ourselves that God will always be there.  Once we’re past this present difficulty we can get back to Him.  He’s not going anywhere. 

The problem with this is that we’re diminishing God.  We’re just kind of putting Him on the back burner, keeping Him close enough to cry out to if things get REALLY bad, but not relying on Him for the day to day stuff.  That’s not a relationship.  A relationship has to be maintained to be effective.  If I don’t talk to my husband for a week, we lose the intimacy that should be the basis of our marriage.  I feel disconnected if I don’t know what’s going on with him and if I can’t share what’s happening with me.  It’s the same way with our relationship with Christ.

Another thing that can keep us from a true connection with God is sin.  If we have unconfessed sin in our life it causes a kind of wall between us and God.  We will usually avoid Him out of guilt.  The great thing about this situation is that all it takes is some repentance and He knocks the wall down, never to be brought up again. 

Another thing that can interfere in a true relationship with Christ is religion.  Religion can be defined as “details of belief as taught or discussed.”  Now, don’t get me wrong here, religion isn’t always a bad thing.  We need to know what we believe and why we believe it and we have to back it up with Scripture.  The problem is when that belief gets in the way of our relationship.  When we put the rituals of our beliefs in place of the relationship we are meant to have with Christ, we are missing the point.  We’re missing the passion.  Our relationship with Christ is meant to be passionate.  So what does that mean?  Passion is “strong and barely controllable emotion.  A state or outburst of such emotion.”  Christ wants us to have a passionate love for Him.  He wants us to be so head-over-heels, crazy in love with Him that we can hardly contain ourselves.  Our relationship with Him is meant to be exciting.  He is crazy in love with us.  He has pursued us and adores us so much that He died for us.  It’s personal.  He could’ve saved the world in any way.  He could have been as hands off as He wanted to be.  But He wasn’t.  He chose to lower Himself from His throne to earth to walk next to mere humans.  He chose to get His hands dirty.  He chose to heal with His touch.  He chose to wash the feet of His friends.  He chose to minister to the outcasts of society.  He was beaten, ridiculed, scourged.  He died a horrible death on a cross.  He chose to make things personal in the way He lived and died.

One of my favorite stories in the Bible is found in John 12:1-8.  “Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. Here a dinner was given in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray Him, objected, “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.” He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it. “Leave her alone,” Jesus replied. “It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of My burial. You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have Me.”

Nard is the name of a plant as well as the oil that came from it. It was very expensive, which is what ruffled the feathers of Judas. Mary’s actions no doubt looked unusual to those watching. First, she poured the oil on Jesus’ feet, not His head which was the way it was normally done. Then, she wiped His feet with her hair. No respectable woman at that time would ever take her hair down in public. To top it all off, washing someone’s feet was servant’s work.  But, Mary didn’t care. She wasn’t concerned with what others thought of her. She was so much in awe of her Lord that she only wanted to worship at His feet in the most extravagant way she knew how.

This is what God wants from us. - Sincere, honest, passionate worship.

Christ’s love for us is extravagant and that requires an extravagant response.  One full of passion.  It requires a response of over-the-top love for a Savior who loves over-the-top. 

 

 

 

 

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Comments
  • Lissa Litka

    Valerie,The story of Hannah is a great example. I think you're right, we should be completely overwhelmed by the grace of God, not just in the big salvation stuff, but in the everyday as well. Thanks for your comment!

  • Valerie Hegwood

    This also makes me think of Hannah, whose passion to the Lord with the desire for a son, caused the priest to assume she was intoxicated.  Perhaps we should all be intoxicated with the everyday grace of God. Great post!