A passion for God is the defining characteristic of a Christian... or at least it should be. Merely existing is the opposite of that. Those who are merely existing have become apathetic, uncaring, mediocre in their faith, and simply lazy. They have given up on what matters the most to simply run out the clock. They have no passion for ministry or for the mission of God. Their fire has all but gone completely out. I see Christians like this all the time. Their hobbies get them excited. Their sports teams get them excited. Their shows get them excited. They are passionate about a great many worldly things, but when it comes to their Lord and Savior... they have very little passion... if any at all. For example, this morning we sang some very powerful songs about our Lord... but many of us probably just sang words rather than feeling the impact of what those words meant. Would anyone look at us singing these songs and say that we are passionate about our God? I'm not judging... I'm just trying to help us realize that it is possible that we have forgotten what a passion for God even looks like anymore. Let's face it church... we, and the rest of the American Church have a serious problem. We claim to be Christians yet we have lost our passion for our God and with it our identity.

A key phrase which helps us resist the mentality to simply exist is “hold fast.” Don't slip into mediocrity, instead hold fast to the task at hand. Don't give up on what God has called you to do, instead hold fast to the mission. Don't quit, don't stop, don't get stuck, instead hold fast to the great calling of which you've been called.

Hold fast is a sailing term where an officer would shout to the men to hold fast to the riggings so the sails don't swing around too hard and kill someone on deck or knock someone overboard. This was never more important than in a storm, where after holding onto the riggings for hours the sailors would be sore, tired, and frustrated. No doubt they would feel the temptation to give up... but they couldn't... the crew depended on it. And so they would hear this phrase of encouragement rally the men to continue to fight. Hold fast... hold fast... hold fast! My prayer is that this phrase would rally us to not give up the fight against sin, and for doing good.

And the struggle is clear is it not? When times get hard, monotonous, and unexciting it's easy to lose focus on abhorring evil and doing good. When we loose some of the wind in our sails we could be tempted to love sin more and love doing good to people less. There is a common phrase that mom's have used for ages to get their kids off their butts and out of the house; “idle hands are the devil's playground.” Meaning, when you aren't doing something useful the devil will tempt you to do something sinful to fill the time. And over the years I've noticed this to be true. If we live in the mentality of simply existing... if we become idle... it's easy for Satan to nudge open the door and begin to creep into your mind. When you are going forward and focused it's much harder for him to succeed at finding a foothold... but when we are standing still he can get our attention and before we know it we are sinning.