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How many of you have had a visit from Mr. Saboteur? Whoever or whatever Mr. Saboteur is to you, he has drained all the passion out of your life. Your dreams and inspiration are gone. You’ve fallen asleep at the wheel, and your life has become blah and predictable.

Author Tony Campolo says, "We are caught up in a particular stage in our national ethos in which we're not only materialistic, but worse than that, we're becoming emotionally dead as a people. We don't sing, we don't dance, we don't even commit sin with very much enthusiasm. There is a deadness everywhere. It seems that everyone has gone to sleep."

What’s missing? It’s the virtue of passion. Passion is an intense emotion that compels action. It’s the energy of the soul that wakes us out of our sleep and causes us to experience what Jesus described as life to the full. Passion is often the difference between winning and losing, success and failure. An Olympic equestrian champion was asked how a horse knows when it has to leap the hedges and hurdles. The rider responded, "That’s simple. You tear your heart out of your body and throw it over the hedge. The horse knows how desperate you are to catch up to your heart. So it leaps." That’s passion—throwing your heart toward something or someone.

We’ve all met people without passion who have learned the fine art of sleepwalking from Mr. Saboteur. Here are three characteristics:

1. People without passion allow the precious to become familiar. They allow what is special to become common and familiar.

Author Max Lucado says, "Familiarity paints our homes with drabness. It replaces evening gowns with bathrobes, nights on the town with evenings in the recliner, and romance with routine." Passion-less people have no spark or drive. They don’t throw their heart at anything or anyone.

2. People without passion want acceptance and approval more than anything. They don’t want to stand out in a crowd. So they keep the temperature of their passion in check to appear average and normal and not weird.

3. People without passion have no purpose beyond themselves. John Maxwell says this about people without passion, "The biggest thing they're going to do in life is to hit the alarm clock, get out of bed, go have breakfast and see if their cereal snaps, crackles and pops." That kind of existence will hardly spark any kind of compelling action.

In contrast, what do people of passion look like? Today, I’d like for us to look at an individual whose life defines passion. He got so passionate he built a wall. It’s not the wall we want to focus on today. It’s the passion—that intense emotion that compelled this biblical character named Nehemiah to action. It’s from his story that we will discover the Pathway of Passion.

Nehemiah was a Jewish man who was born in Babylon in the land of Persia. He had never seen his homeland or the city of Jerusalem, but he had heard stories about how the Babylonians had invaded Israel, destroyed the city and deported the Jews back to Persia. Over time, Nehemiah became the king’s cupbearer, who was responsible for tasting the king’s food and wine to make sure it wasn’t poisoned. In essence, he made sure the cereal did snap, crackle and pop.

The Jewish people had been in exile for almost 70 years during which King Artaxerxes came to power, and he began to permit Jews to return to their homeland. But things were not going well back in Israel. The security and reputation of the Jewish people remained in jeopardy because the wall around Jerusalem was in ruins. One day, a brother of Nehemiah, named Hanani, returned from Jerusalem and reported to Nehemiah on the conditions in Israel. Nehemiah 1:3-4 tell us what Hanani said, "’Things are not going well for those who returned to the province of Judah. They are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem has been torn down, and the gates have been burned.’"

Nehemiah responded, "When I heard this, I sat down and wept."

From Nehemiah’s response, we discover the first step on the pathway of passion. Passion is birthed in brokenness. Now if I had been Nehemiah, my natural response would have been to say, "That’s too bad. It’s a shame. I wish there was something I could do, but I’m a thousand miles away with a demanding job on my hands. Call AAA instead." He could have ignored the problem, but he was moved by what he heard. He was broken and wept and mourned for days.

Why? Why was he so broken up over a stupid wall? Certainly, a wall provided protection and security for the Jewish people against their enemies, but I think Nehemiah was more broken and upset over the people’s apathy and their acceptance of their miserable situation. There was no intense emotion to compel them to rebuild the wall. They had fallen asleep at the wheel.

Could this situation be a description of us today? One author writes, "Nothing is ever going to happen to bring a change in society, in families, or in communities until someone gets burdened and broken with the need. There has to be a spirit of brokenness. Yet, today it seems that many people are more concerned with being comfortable and blessed than they are with being convicted and broken for the will and work of God."

Are you broken-hearted about anything in this world? That’s where passion begins—in a broken heart that throws itself toward someone or something.

The next step on the pathway of passion is found in Nehemiah’s response to brokenness. Nehemiah 1:4 says, "For days I mourned, fasted, and prayed to the God of heaven."

Listen to the passion in Nehemiah’s prayer recorded in Nehemiah 1:5-11, "’O LORD, God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps his covenant of unfailing love with those who love him and obey his commands, listen to my prayer! Look down and see me praying night and day for your people Israel. O Lord, please hear my prayer…. Please grant me success now as I go to ask the king for a great favor. Put it into his heart to be kind to me.’"

Nehemiah’s passion was birthed in brokenness, but it was deepened through prayer. Now if I had been in that situation, I would have probably blown off the wall issue and criticized the apathetic people for sleepwalking and doing nothing about it. But Nehemiah opened his heart and identified himself with the problem and determined to become a part of the solution.

What about you and me? Do you pray about the problems you see with an open heart toward being a possible solution to the problem? Or do you just mourn?

For four months Nehemiah prayed for the situation in Jerusalem. Then, he writes in Nehemiah 2:1-5, "Early the following spring, during the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes' reign, I was serving the king his wine. I had never appeared sad in his presence before this time. So the king asked me, ‘Why are you so sad? You aren't sick, are you? You look like a man with deep troubles.’ Then I was badly frightened, but I replied, ‘Long live the king! Why shouldn't I be sad? For the city where my ancestors are buried is in ruins, and the gates have been burned down.’ The king asked, ‘Well, how can I help you?’ With a prayer to the God of heaven, I replied, ‘If it please Your Majesty and if you are pleased with me, your servant, send me to Judah to rebuild the city where my ancestors are buried.’"

Do you catch what’s happening? Nehemiah’s passion, born in brokenness and deepened in prayer inspired him to bold action. Bold action is the next step on the pathway of passion. Not only did Nehemiah ask for a leave of absence, he boldly asked the King for secure travel and building supplies. Passion leads to boldness and makes the impossible seem possible.

After Nehemiah had arrived in Jerusalem and surveyed the damaged wall, he passionately challenged the leaders and people as reported in Nehemiah 2:17-18, "‘You know full well the tragedy of our city. It lies in ruins, and its gates are burned. Let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem and rid ourselves of this disgrace!’ Then I told them about how the gracious hand of God had been on me, and about my conversation with the king. They replied at once, ‘Good! Let's rebuild the wall!’ So they began the good work."

Notice, they responded immediately—"at once". All these drab, emotionally dead, sleepwalking, Saboteur supporters needed was someone to ignite them by saying, "let’s do it." That’s what passion does. It attracts people to your cause. Robert Kriegel researched 500 successful leaders from all areas of work, the arts, and sports. He discovered, "No two were alike—but what they had in common was passion. It was their drive, their enthusiasm and their desire that distinguished them." Passion attracts people, but it also attracts opposition (Mr. Saboteur).

There were a number of people groups living around Jerusalem who saw the rebuilding of the wall as a threat to their power and influence. So they unleashed their opposition and criticism on Nehemiah and the workers. There were threats of attack, the infiltration of spies, and the slandering of Nehemiah’s credibility and integrity, but opposition doesn’t derail passionate people because passionate people see it through to the end.

Nehemiah 6:15-16 tells us what happened, "So on October 2 the wall was finally finished—just fifty-two days after we had begun. When our enemies and the surrounding nations heard about it, they were frightened and humiliated. They realized that this work had been done with the help of our God."

What’s the point? Nehemiah’s passion—which was birthed in brokenness and deepened in prayer—also empowered him to overcome opposition. Without passion for your marriage or your family or God, guess what? You won’t be able to stand against the Mr. Saboteurs of life who want to drain you of passion. Passion empowers you to overcome opposition and obstacles.

Here’s one last step on the pathway of passion. While the building project was in full swing, trouble from within erupted. Some of the rich nobles and leaders of Jerusalem were taking advantage of the plight of their fellow Jews by charging unfair interest rates. Families who ran out of money for food had to sell their children and mortgage their fields, vineyards, and homes to these rich, greedy Jewish leaders. Nehemiah’s passion pushed him to experience one last step on the pathway of passion.

Nehemiah reacted to what he saw. He confronted the evil and reports in Nehemiah 5:6-11, "I was very angry. After thinking about the situation, I spoke out against these nobles and officials. I told them, ‘You are oppressing your own relatives by charging them interest when they borrow money.’ Then I called a public meeting to deal with the problem." Passion enabled Nehemiah to confront evil.

Where are you on the pathway of passion? Are you one who takes bold action? Do you attract others to follow in worthy causes? Do you have the ability to stand through adversity and speak against evil? Are you committed to seeing it through? Or are you a drab, sleepwalker who has lost your snap, crackle and pop?

Which person do you want to be? Look around and get broken over something or someone and start praying. God will ignite a passion in you to make a difference in you and the world.