Mark 1:17-20 tells us about when Jesus saw fishermen, Simon and Andrew.

He told them that he will make them fishers of men if they follow him. They didn't hesitate, immediately, they dropped

everything and followed Christ. What made them drop everything to follow Christ?

They had a choice. Jesus did not force them; the choice was up to them. Simon and Andrew were intrigued;

they heard Christ speak just 1 line, telling them how he will reward them.

They wanted to see what Christ had to offer, get know him and understand him. They didn’t doubt, but chose to diligently follow Christ and walk with him. When they did, they grew, got close to Christ and they never looked back.

To follow Christ, we have to become selfless. The disciples dropped everything to ensure that nothing could stop them from drawing closer to him or hinder their relationship with him.

How often do we drop everything and make time for God? To grow and get closer to God, we need to spend sufficient time with him.

We can’t revolve God around our lives or busy schedules; it should be the other way round. We should revolve our lives and our time around God. When we take the time out to earnestly seek God on a deep level, and develop our faith, he rewards us (Hebrews 11:6). Just like Christ rewarded his disciples for dropping everything to follow Him, He promises to reward us too. We can’t even imagine all that God has in store for us (1 Corinthians 2:9).

When we take the time out to seek God and look forward to our rewards and future with Him, our passion to keep following God increases.

Passion is a desire, crave, an appetite. It’s what fuels our anticipation and excitement.

When we have a passion for God and desire to get closer to Him, our passion rises; our love and understanding for Him also increases.

When we fall in love with God, in order to keep the love alive, we have to work on it, keep getting to know God and gain courage to do his will. We gain this motivation when our passion and fire increases.

It’s like starting a fire from scratch. You start by gathering a few twigs or sticks and rubbing them together. With the first few attempts, it starts to sizzle and creates sparks and we only see just a bit of the light. It takes a bit more effort and motivation to keep going till a small flame appears. Getting the flame is the first achievement. Once you get the flame, you want to keep going and get it bigger. So you have to keep fanning it till it gets bigger so you can feel the warmth from it.

We should passionate and on fire for God.  It starts with a flame planted in our hearts, when we fan it and focus on the things of God, meditate more in God's word and get closer to him, the fire increases deep within us so that we can receive God’s love and warmth.

There is so much to know about God and His amazing ways. No matter how old we are or how long we have been following Him, we will never get to a point in our lives where will know absolutely everything about God and all his ways. God wants us to keep getting to know and understand Him for all eternity. That’s what should fuel our passion, knowing that there is so much more to know, learn and gain.

We can’t ever stop growing with God. Have you ever read a good book, and as you go through each chapter, it gets more interesting and you can’t put it down, you want to keep reading it because you’re so intrigued to keep reading till the end. That’s how our excitement should be for God. And the great thing is that with God, there is no end, we can be with him for eternity, and forever be rewarded for our faith and passion.

Once we understand how amazing God is and get a taste and glimpse, you want to experiences more and get on a deeper level.

Getting to know God and all about him is an enjoyable experience. One will never understand until they get a taste of God. The enemy knows that experiencing God is addictive, like a good book we can’t put down. So he doesn’t want us to get that taste to fuel our passion. However, we are always given the opportunity to seek God. Wherever we are, when we earnestly seek God with all our heart, we will always find Him (Jeremiah 29:13-14).

God is so merciful, that he patiently waits for us to seek Him and get close to him. It's never too early to start seeking Him.

Even if we lose our passion for God or drift away from him, we can always return to God and restart. We can seek Him again, call on him and turn to Him (Isaiah 55:6-7). When we return, God will have mercy on us and draw back to us too (Deuteronomy 4:31).

We should desire to get closer to God. He loves those who love him and seek him (Proverbs 8:17).

Christ should be the ultimate love of our lives. When we love Him, we reap his everlasting rewards and experience true love, joy and peace.

Esther ♥