Your Life’s Passion

<p>One evening years ago, my wife and I were making our way down a mountain trail, accompanied by two friends. The trail was narrow and wound around a slope with a steep drop on one side and an unclimbable bank on the other.</p> <p>As we came around a bend, I saw a large bear moseying along, swinging his head from side to side, and quietly huffing. We were downwind and he hadn&rsquo;t detected our presence, but he would soon.</p> <p>Our friend began to rummage around in her jacket for a camera. &ldquo;Oh, I must take a picture!&rdquo; she said. I, being less comfortable with our odds, said, "No, we must get out of here." So we backed up quietly until we were out of sight&mdash;and ran.</p> <p>That&rsquo;s how we should feel about the dangerous passion to get rich. There&rsquo;s nothing wrong with money; it's just a medium of exchange. But those who <em>desire</em> to get rich "fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction,&rdquo; Paul wrote (1 Timothy 6:9). Wealth is only a goad to get more.</p> <p>Instead, we should &ldquo;pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness&rdquo; (v. 11). These traits grow in us as we pursue them and ask God to form them within us. This is how we secure the deep satisfaction we seek in God.</p>