Strengthen Your Passion: A Wiser Investment

Nov 20, 2020 | Edwin Arceo, Lifestyle

strengthen your passion

Whatever your passion is, be it digital or analog, it should be long-lasting. Unlike buying stuff that will eventually get obsolete, what you are passionate about will only get better and better and much more satisfying.

Take for instance buying an expensive digital tablet. You buy it because you desire to strengthen your skills in illustration. You’re thinking that you will get better results. You are excited while it’s new. But as time pass on, you get disappointed with the results and the tablet you bought gets replaced by a newer model, you start to realize that you should have invested the money spent for a more practical, longer-lasting investment. Mentorship with another artist could have done that, and probably cheaper. A three-day seminar might have done the trick.



It’s the same thing with photography. Because you have the money, you but the latest and the greatest. You thought that it would make you a better photographer. You count how many times you go on a photo shoot: once or twice a month. Did you get better? Probably a bit. Making time to actually shoot pictures is what makes a difference. You’ll get a better eye for a  great scene. You turn your dials faster so that when an opportunity presents itself, you get the shot. The latest and the greatest can do that, but you also have to good. And time makes good.

Artists have paint and brushes. Writers have a pen and paper. With technology, if you run out of battery then you’re dead.

Author Malcolm Gladwell suggested, based on other researches, that one needs to gain 10,000 hours of practice to become an expert. This is a disputed principle though. One thing is clear, you need great training experience and a lot of time to hone your passion.

Technology will definitely help but we are not limited to what it can contribute. Artists have paint and brushes. Writers have a pen and paper. With technology, if you run out of battery then you’re dead.

The Apostle Paul did not become a burden to the believers in Corinth simply because he was an experienced tentmaker (Acts 18:3). Paul sought fellow tentmakers, Aquila and Priscilla, to become established in that city. Not only did he gain friends, but also, peers, who shared his passion for making tents which he started to learn when he was young as was traditional in those times.

The Old Testament mentions Bezalel and Oholiab who were called by God to build the Tabernacle, according to God’s specifications  (Exodus 31). I think you would be mighty passionate to be chosen by God to do something as important as the Tabernacle.

Of course, we should not leave out Jesus, who IS the Master Craftsman. He created the whole universe and everything in it! We are living in Jesus’s creation. I’m sure He was very passionate when He made you and me!

I am not saying that we should throw away technology. Far from it. It should be used side-by-side with analog skills, i.e. something that you can do with your hands without digital thing-a-ma-bobs. Later, whether you have a gadget or not, the skills which were honed by your passion will last.

Edwin is the founder and publisher of Jacob’s Fountain, a website dedicated to publishing content that refreshes others so that may also be refreshed.

He also works as the Manager for Merchandise Development at CBN Asia, the producer of the long-running weeknight inspirational show, The 700 Club Asia. He has been working here since 1994. Edwin is also the husband to Emy and a father to his two sons, Ephraim and Edwin James.

Read more of Edwin’s articles HERE!

Help us REFRESH others with the life-giving Word of God today!


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