Do They See Our Passion?

      People joke about what a great job Marita does writing my articles. Though she has given me some great ideas along the way, she has never actually written any of them. However, she has come about as close as I can let her with this one.

      Like many people, she was totally taken aback by the death of Steve Irwin, the Crocodile Hunter. We could talk about how sad and how tragic the whole thing is, but Marita made a different comment the other night.

      She told me everywhere she looked people were saying Irwin’s daughter was going to carry on his legacy for preserving wildlife. The amazing thing is his daughter is only eight years old. It’s hard to project to what an eight year old will devote her life. Why is everyone so sure?

      The reason is Irwin involved his whole family in his passion. He started by being more concerned about his passion for wildlife than about just finding someone to marry. He didn’t marry until there was someone else so consumed with his passion they felt they had to be together because they could be of such help to one another.

      But then, when they had children, they didn’t shuffle them off to babysitters while they pursued their passion. They brought their kids along, even under the negative scrutiny of the masses. Irwin’s kids saw him and his wife at work. The kids worked with them. They saw his love for animals up close. They saw his desire for the preservation of wildlife personally. So much so, most people are convinced it has left an indelible mark on them already.

      Sadly, the passion his kids saw was one for saving animals and not for saving souls. But what about us? Do our children see our passion? When God commanded the Israelites to teach their children when they sat in their house, when they walked in the way, when they lay down and when they rose up, He was encouraging them to demonstrate their passion for serving the Lord (Deuteronomy 6:4-9). Do our children see that?

      What we need to understand is this? Our children do see our passion. They know what is most important to us. They can tell if football, baseball, cars, work, friends, family or hunting is what is most important to us. How many will take their kids to their first ball game long before they can understand it, but won’t study the Bible with them, because they are too young? They will likely pick up on what is most important to us. It will likely become important to them as well.

      The point is if we want God, His will and His work to be important to them, we have to let it be important to us. We have to involve them in it. Trust me. Our children can tell. Let them see our real passion for the Lord and they will likely develop one as well.

Edwin L. Crozier