“And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end: That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.” (Hebrews 6:11–12, KJV 1900)
Someone asked me once, “What charged my ministerial battery?” for many ministers it is the large numbers of people sitting in pews on Sunday morning. I must admit, it is nice to see a packed house when you have spent hours and days preparing a 35-40-minute sermon. Yet, the drive for the numbers can be fleshly in its appeal. Deep within there must be a more noble drive and excitement in the heart of the preacher. What really charged my ministerial battery was seeing people transformed by the power of the gospel.
In most congregations, we see just a fraction of the parishioners who have demonstrated a deep love for God through enthusiastic service for Him. The burden of my heart was to see the church revived and to see professing Christians in love with God. I wanted to see them excited about their faith, and demonstrating this through godly living and faithful ministry.
This is the author of Hebrew’s great passion. The word translated “desire” is the verb, epithumeo, which comes from two words, epi, meaning upon and thumos, meaning passion. He wanted to see those members of the Jewish community on the edge of true saving faith experience true salvation in Christ. He wanted to see those who had the knowledge of the gospel be transformed by its power, like those he mentioned in the previous two verses who were genuine believers.
Wouldn’t it be great to see every professing believer seeking the Lord with a whole heart? Wouldn’t it be great to see every professing believer actively serving in the local church? Wouldn’t it be great to see every professing believer witnessing for the glory of God?
Oh, how we need revival in our churches today. This is at the heart of every true preacher of the gospel. However, we cannot bring it, only God can. Yet we will not see it unless our hearts are right first. We, who preach this word need to do some soul searching first. We need to find out where our hearts are. Are we demonstrating such passion for the Lord or have we grown cold? We must turn our hearts towards God anew and then call upon our parishioners to do the same. At stake is the eternal destiny of those on the edge of true faith.
Believe, repent, and pray for revival. Call upon God for a mighty movement of His Spirit in our lives and our churches.
Renewing the Heart 