As usual, I was riding my bike and was on my way to work. Near a crossway, I noticed that a man was dancing alone under a bridge. There were cars, electric motorbikes and bikes coming and going. He could be seen by many people, but it seemed that he didn’t care at all!

I was amazed by this scene. Although I needed to rush or I’d be late, I stopped to look. I got closer and found that he was dancing to music. He seemed to be in his forties.

Sometimes when I take the bus or subway, there are people loudly playing music on their smart phones and it annoys me. But this man, what he was doing didn’t affect others, even though music was being played. It was good.

I looked at this man who was dancing and I began to envy him at that moment. He was doing something he loved. He seemed to have no pressure while many other people seemed to be living under great pressure and pressed the pressure in their hearts.

I thought of King David. King David also danced. He danced in front of the ark of the LORD.

“And David danced before the LORD with all his might. And David was wearing a linen ephod. So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with shouting and with the sound of the horn. As the ark of the LORD came into the city of David, Michal the daughter of Saul looked out of the window and saw King David leaping and dancing before the LORD, and she despised him in her heart. “

---2 Samuel 6: 14—16

The man under the bridge had passion for dancing and didn’t care what people passing by thought of him. King David had passion for God. As a king, he danced before the LORD, before the ark of the LORD. I don’t think there was any king who danced in front of his servants in the whole history of China. They knew they would be despised if they did. But King David didn’t care. He was so passionate about the LORD and he just danced before the ark of the LORD.

I also thought of freedom. A kind of freedom which enables a man to forget himself for a cause worth fighting for.

The apostle Paul possessed such freedom. He had so much passion for God and God’s work that he often forgot himself while serving God. He was truly free. He was free from worrying about what other people thought of him or judged him; he was free from comparing himself with others or coveting the comfortable lives other people were living; he was free from worrying about whether he had enough money to survive or maintaining a comfortable life.

I lived in Vientiane (capital of Laos) for one year in 2017. While I was there, I often went to an International church on Sunday afternoons. People from different countries worshipped there together. I could sense that the people there, especially those who were serving God, such as preachers and worship leaders had passion for God. That church was full of love.

One Sunday, when the worship service was over and people were about to leave, I saw a British woman, whom I knew of, standing near the stage with her hands lifted up and her eyes closed, and she was saying loudly, in a tone of sincere invitation:

“If anyone here hasn’t accepted Jesus Christ, please don’t leave. Please stay!”

I was shocked and moved by this scene. She didn’t care what other people would think of her. She didn’t care whether people would label her ‘religious fanatic’ or something. She didn’t feel embarrassed about her words or her invitation. She had passion for God.

Have Passion For God