Passion to serve, not be served

Ok, so I am a little late in this one, but it actually worked out really well with my small group discussion tonight. Wednesday, we talked about working along side Christ and acting with a manner of goodness, brotherly kindness, self-control, knowledge, perseverance, and love. When you think on this, it makes sense, it ought to be easy, but in practice it actually becomes very hard. Too often I feel, we can get caught up in how an action feeds our own personal desires, or what we gain from it rather than how it brings glory to God. Our passion is for our own personal gain, rather than how it benefits others and more importantly, the Kingdom of God. In the book, "Knowing God," Packer writes, "He has us in His hands; we never have Him in ours. Like us, He is personal; but unlike us, He is great." Have you ever noticed when you flip that first sentence around, and you can begin to see God more similar to Aladdin's Gene than the all powerful God who created the heavens and the earth? Lately it seems, this has become a little bit infectious, at least where I am from. It has been my prayer that we begin to see it as not what God can do for us, but what we can do for God. That he may work through us in that manner and give us passion for what we are doing. Without passion, action is nothing, it is like the sports hero who is really good at the game, but has no heart for it. In the end it makes up a way for him to get his fill. My hope is that we do not get our fill, that we ever hunger to know God more and to serve Him with all that we are.