Beloved: grace, mercy and peace be yours from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. It is with great pleasure that I welcome you to the transition week between the months of September and October 2024. My prayer is that God will continually cause your heart to greatly thirst for Him, so that you can know Him as you should and so that you can enjoy all the good things He has in store for you. Amen.
The bible says this to us about how to know God adequately and be fully satisfied by Him in life: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” (Matt 5:6NIV) What is this telling us? It is that even though God wants to reveal Himself to us and fulfil His good intentions for our lives, it is only those of us who are hungry and thirsty for Him and for what He has for us that will end up being satisfied to the full. Those who are not hungry and thirsty for Him are showing that they can do without Him. So, even though they profess Him to be their God, all they can hope to enjoy are His general blessings.
Look at the bible, and you will see that those who knew God well and who also enjoyed His blessings in unusual ways were those who demonstrated great hunger and thirst for Him. For instance, we are told this about Moses and the children of Israel: “He made known his ways to Moses, his deeds to the people of Israel…” (Ps 103:7NIV) Can you see that there was a vast difference between the way God related to Moses and the way He related to the children of Israel? All that the children of Israel could see were God’s miraculous works done on their behalf. They could not understand why He did those works or what to do to make them happen.
But Moses could tell the reason God did whatever He did for the Israelites. He also could tell why God gave them the Laws He gave to them. And that was because he knew the ways of God. But how did he know God’s ways? Was it simply because God called him and also sent him to deliver the nation of Israel from Egypt? No! Rather, it was because he himself was hungry and thirsty to know God and to know His ways. Look at some of his prayers to God:
“If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people.” (Ex 33:13NIV)
““Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.”” (Ex 33:18NIV)
Did you see that? Moses was not satisfied with just being the leader of the nation of Israel. And he was not just satisfied with being a miracle worker. Instead, he also wanted to know God adequately and to see His glory. Why? He knew that he could only be the leader of the nation of Israel and a miracle worker for a while. At some point, he would die and leave everything. But if he knew God and saw his glory, he would live with Him forever. And because this was what he was hungry and thirsty for, God satisfied him with it.
Look also at David. Why did he know God the way he did, even though he was not a priest or a prophet like Moses? It was because he too was hungry and thirsty for Him. He once said, “Oh God, earnestly I seek you; my soul is thirsty for you, my body longs for you.” And did God satisfy him or not? He did. (Cf. Ps 63:1)
Therefore, if we too are hungry and thirsty for God, not for home videos, comedies, parties and other things that hardly edify, He will satisfy us with His fullness and the world will see His glory in us. And the truth is that most of us are not experiencing the glory of God in our lives the way we should because our hunger and thirst for Him is not enough. How, then, do we show that we are seriously hungry and thirsty for Him? We can show it by passionately and consistently going for His word, praying and fellowshipping with His people.
Remember that Nicodemus, though he was an old man and a great teacher in Israel, humbled himself and came to learn from the Lord Jesus one night (John 3:1-2). Why? He was thirsty for more of God. I can also remember going out of my way some years ago to borrow Christian books and sermon tapes from people who were not even my church brethren, just because I wanted to know more of God. And many times, I woke up in the middle of the night to read those books or listen to those tapes so that I could return them to their owners on time. What was that? Hunger and thirst for God! And did it pay off or not? It did.
So, if you are hungry and thirsty for God, you will surely know and enjoy Him beyond your expectations. But if you are not hungry and thirsty for Him, there are things you will never know or enjoy about Him. Pray, then, that He will daily awaken true and great hunger and thirst for Him in you, so that you may experience His fullness.
Have a lovely week.
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