HOSEA 6:3 – Let us know; let us press on to know the LORD; His going out is sure as the dawn; He will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth.

THEME OF THE DAY. KNOWING CHRIST. If I were to survey ten real Christians, I would not get a single “No, I’m all set” answer to this question – “Do you want to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ?” Part of the work of new birth in a person is the creation of a heart hungering for God. No one ever experienced the Spirit’s converting grace and remains indifferent to knowing Jesus more and more. There is placed within every Christian this hunger, this thirst, this intensifying passion to know Christ and the power of His resurrection (Philippians 3:10). And that makes perfect sense. God didn’t save us to merely remove His wrath from us. He saved us primarily for us to know, love, and worship Him. When this hunger and thirst is absent, there should be great concern to anyone professing to be a Christian. Granted, we experience those sad periods when zeal for Christ ebbs and flows. Every Christian will know those difficult “spiritual winters” when the Bible appears lifeless, prayer mechanical, and church not overly exciting. But no Christian will stay there or be comfortable in those “frigid spiritual” seasons. And here is where the “spiritual rubber meets the road.”

In today’s scripture, we find a double exhortation in our pursuit of Christ. The double emphasis points to the importance of the pursuit. His language of “Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord” is that of exhausting toil, maximum effort, and focused direction. So with such passion from the prophet for us to know the Lord and the importance in his passion of knowing the Lord, let’s consider two things to help us obey his exhortation.

First, the effort we give in the Word and prayer to know Christ will be directly proportionate to how much value we place on knowing Christ. And that demands we examine ourselves under this criteria found in the heart of Asaph, the Psalmist – “Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you” (Psalm 73:25). Can we look in the mirror and to heaven saying what he said concerning his desire for God? We will make little spiritual progress in our relationship with the Lord Jesus if we cannot.

Next, we must not give up in the pursuit of Christ if He delays revealing Himself to us. This is not uncommon. Do a study of waiting on the Lord in the scriptures, especially in the Psalms. Such “silence” by God is not His reluctance to reveal Himself to us. It is actually a test of true desire and willingness to seek Him. It is a test of sincerity. And in today’s scripture, we have the motivation to continue a diligent seeking of Him; the promise He will reveal Himself. Hosea writes, “He will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth.” Let the promise of knowing God keep us seeking God. He will come. He must. He promised.

So, back to the opening question . . . “Do you want to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ?” This time, don’t answer it with words. Answer it with a life seeking Him because of His inestimable value and continue seeking Him because He promised we would gain what we seek – Him.

PRAYER: “Father, shine the glory of Your Son upon my heart energizing my will to seek Him with all my heart.”

QUOTE: “Our efforts to know the Lord will be proportionate to our desire to know the Lord”