“So let us know, let us press on to know the LORD. His going forth is as certain as the dawn; and He will come to us like the rain, like the spring rain watering the earth.” (Hosea 6:3 NASB)
This passage encourages us to “press on to know the Lord.” Paul wrote, “Forgetting what lies behind and straining toward what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (Ph. 3:13b-14). What was the great goal Paul was striving for? What was the prize he felt God had called him to press toward?
We don’t have to guess. The apostle made it clear a few verses earlier: “I count all things loss for the surpassing value of knowing Jesus Christ my Lord” . . . I want to know Christ . . . (Ph. 3:7, 10a). The prize Paul prized above everything in life, what he was possessed with possessing more than all worldly possessions, was to know Christ in ever increasing intimacy.
Jesus prayed, “Now this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent” (Jn. 17:3). This is the great goal of the Christian life: to know the one true God and Jesus Christ, His Son and our Savior.
The encouragement and exhortation of Scripture is to press on, and to press in, to know God more and more, to never be satisfied with yesterday’s manna, to seek Him fresh every day, in order to know Him more deeply, and love Him more dearly, and to walk with Him more closely. But modern Christianity seems to offer us this alternative: “Pray to receive Christ, go to church, pay tithes, wait for blessings.”
Instead of encouraging us to count all things loss for the surpassing value on knowing Jesus, we’re fed formulas formatted to finagle God into blessing us. As a result we’ve subconsciously learned to measure our Christian walk by how well God is serving our worldly wants instead of by an increased hunger to know Him and to be like Him.
Could we please just stop? Sure God loves to bless His children. And, oftentimes those blessings are material. But the blessings aren’t the goal. The Blessor is the goal! He IS the prize! He IS the objective! He IS the blessing above all blessings! He is the way, the truth, and the life (Jn. 14:6). If we seek Him, we will find Him (Jer. 29:13).
Brothers and sisters, let’s seek Him with all of our hearts for only He will satisfy our hearts. So, let us know, let us press on to know the Lord!
© Paul R Downing