My friend, Barry, loves running in marathons. Every Saturday he does shorter runs to build up his strength and stamina. Before the big race he eats the right amount of food, has the right amount of sleep and talks about nothing else. He is obsessed.
I have another friend (yes, I have a lot of friends) who knits for charity. It seems babies nowadays seldom wear knitted garments made by loving relatives, so she knits for charity which needs hats, mittens, gloves and scarves. This friend, Pauline, is always knitting wherever she is. At any meeting you can hear the click of her needles, on the phone when you ask her what she is doing, the answer is always, knitting. She is very obsessed with her useful hobby. I know of others who have an obsession like football, baking, gardening, fishing or sailing.
These are all good things, but what is our all-absorbing, time-consuming passion. May it be Christ. May all our thoughts be about Him. May we long to read more about Him in the Bible, listen avidly to sermons and mix with like-minded worshippers. Our closeness to God won’t happen by accident, we need to work on it, we need to practise our faith, We need to be passionate like the early disciples . Then our light will shine before men and we will want to know him more and more.