“O God, Thou art my God…my soul thirsts for Thee…” Psalm 63:1
Dear Ones:
There are priorities of life. David would write: “ONE THING have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in His temple.” (Ps. 27:4) Jesus would tell Martha that “…one thing is needful, and Mary has chosen that better part, which shall not be take away from her.” (Luke 10:42) What is the Lord seeking to say to us? It is that there are things in this life which are of supreme importance, and that we can neglect the highest because our vision is less than that which is of Christ.
In Isaiah 55, the Lord declares by pen of Isaiah, “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My higher than your ways, and My thoughts higher than your thoughts.” (v. 9) If His ways and thoughts are so much higher than our own, and they are certainly greater and more wonderful, is it not the logical response of our souls to the Creator and Redeemer to seek Him for a knowledge of Him, and to learn what is most important in this life?
The great men and women of God were pursuers of God. This was the highest and most blessed endeavor that they could ever pursue. Moses, with all the responsibilities and pressures of his day would specifically seek the Lord to receive from Him a knowledge of His ways. He would even go so far as to ask Him that he would SEE His glory. Paul would write to the Philippians, “…for this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” (3:13-14) Paul saw the doing of this “one thing” as essential for the attaining of his objective, and that was to KNOW Christ, “…to know Him, and the power of His resurrection.” (v.10) For Mary, Moses, David, and Paul, they all had priorities, but those priorities were embraced and ordered to pursue God, the knowledge of Christ. This was not just an intellectual knowledge of the truth of God, though essential. It was the experience of fellowship with Him, a personal “soul” knowledge of Him.
Where does this pursuit begin? It begins with thirst, a thirst in our hearts and souls, for the reality of Him. The thirst is specific, and directed. David had a thirst “…to SEE Thy power and Thy glory, so as I have seen Thee in the sanctuary.” (Ps. 63:1,2) God creates in our hearts, because of circumstances, or conviction from reading the word of God, a thirst to touch eternal reality in Christ. This is done as the heart stretches its hands heavenward, and God gives to the “eyes of our hearts” the enlightenment, or revelation that we need of Christ. It is by the Spirit of God, who takes the truth of Scripture, and reveals Christ to us, that we are lifted up above the things of earth, where the waters of earth cannot fully satisfy. David writes also, “My soul shall be satisfied…” (v.5) Is it possible to be satisfied by the revelation of Christ to the heart? Jesus told the woman at the well, ,”Whosoever drinks of the water that I shall give him, shall never thirst.” (Jn. 4:14) The Lord does satisfy.
Dear Father, give us to be able to say with David, “My soul follows hard after Thee: Thy right hand upholds me.” (Ps. 63:8) Enable us to see and to choose that which is of greatest importance in life, to pursue Thee, the most wonderful of objectives. Satisfy our hearts with the revelation of Thyself to our hearts. We praise and thank Thee, in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Love, Dad