A Baptism of Fire

How do you act when you're doing things that you're passionate about? Most people are noticeably excited and even if the thing that they are passionate about gives them joy, it often brings along with it a sense of uneasiness. That uneasiness usually rises from being impatient and wanting to rush into it or from thinking about the things that they may have to struggle through in order to get to the source of their passion.

What gives you that kind of passion? And how dedicated are you to your passion? When something is your true passion you are committed to it and what it represents in your life. Meaning, that as you are working to fulfill our true passion, you will definitely come into some conflict along the pathway towards your passion's completion or guaranteeing that the avenues of energy that allow it to be fulfilled never run dry. In order for you to carry out your true passion, I want to ask a question that came from a popular film from the late 1980s, "What are you prepared to do?"

This week we're reading Luke 12:49-56, where it lifts up the fulfillment of the true passion of Jesus. Jesus, who was speaking in a rare emotional outburst, said, "I have a baptism I must experience. How I am distressed until it's completed!" These are strong words coming from the Son of God. Jesus was displaying a deeply held feeling regarding his greatest passion, so much so, as to say how distressed he was waiting until it was finally completed.

After re-reading that entire passage, it always makes me think about what Jesus was prepared to do to make sure his true passion was fulfilled and what he had to do to overcome the obstacles that were in his way.

After reading the passage, I ask that you see how your true passion aligns with Jesus', and what you think Jesus wants us to know about what we should be prepared to do to fulfill our true passion in Christ.