The Sacred Chaseنموونە

Heath Adamson: The Sacred Chase Devotional Day 2

“Taking Passion Back from Religion”

Today, I am going to suggest something a bit provocative: we can be more committed to Christianity than we are to Jesus. 

Jesus did not come to the earth to merely create a religion called Christianity. His body was not marred beyond the form of human likeness so we could have a “Jesus-branded life.” Jesus did not come because He is the most relevant way or the most popular way. Jesus is not the cool way. He is not the American way. Jesus, himself, declared He is “the [only] way, and the truth, and the life” (John 14:6).

If you realize that, maybe, there are some parts of your heart that are not fully yielded to God, don’t be ashamed. God is inviting you to come closer. It takes courage to refuse to use God’s sovereignty and unconditional love as an excuse to settle. You can finally pursue God with everything you are. 

So, has a piece of your soul lagged behind? Are you longing for more of God and the fulfillment of what God promised to you in Scripture? Perhaps you have hit a wall in prayer and, rather than finding God in the silence, you quit praying altogether. 

Slowly but surely, maybe you or someone you love started making decisions to live life with the Christian label on it, but the substance of God’s presence has begun to fade.

When I talk about the sacred chase, I am not saying that Jesus Christ Himself should become an adjective to you. I am not asking you to be a Christian teacher, Christian parent, or a Christian artist. I am saying Jesus invites you at this moment to experience the reality of every single one of God’s promises in your life. 

For that reality to occur, it isn’t just up to God, it is up to you too. We must all uniquely and individually own where our story began and, more importantly, what it will become with God. There is no limit on your connection with God unless you choose to put one there.

I like the way the Passion Translation puts Psalm 63:8: “With passion I pursue and cling to you. Because I feel your grip on my life, I keep my soul close to your heart.” 

How, perhaps, has Christianity taken precedence over Christ in your life?