Pressing On And Pressing In

Hosea 6:3

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.

I can quit.

I don't have to keep doing this.

I can stop anytime I want to.

Oh, I could if I truly set my mind to it, but my heart won't let me.

When I am at the end of myself physically....
When my thoughts are jumbled and hard to set straight....
When I want to quit chasing this God and just have what I would classify as a normal life....

It is then that I remember the words to Hosea 6:3.

A good friend of mine, Nori Kelley, put these words to song and I can hear it over and over and over when I want to quit.
Let us know....Let us fully comprehend that there is more to life than our existence here on this planet.
Let us know that there are greater things at work in our daily lives than we could ever think or imagine.

So let us know....not with our heads, but with our hearts. Let us understand through relationship the love and mercy and grace of God. You can't understand such concepts with a human mind. It takes place in our spirit as God speaks to our hearts.

So let us know....let us be fully persuaded that God is who He says He is and will do what He says He will do.

So let us know the promises of God are "yes" and "amen" without question or fail.

If God truly is who He claims to be, then we should be leaning into this relationship. We should be very possessive of what we have been given in this free gift of eternal life. We should press on.....

The idea of "pressing on" gives me the impression that there must something or someone who will come against us as we try to move with God and toward God. The act of pressing on is a pushing back against that which seeks to either divert me or stop me from my appointed destination.

As the old hymn says so eloquently.....I SHALL NOT BE MOVED.

Or, in this case...........I shall not be moved backward. I am pressing on.

I thing too many today think that once you're saved, it's time to sit back and enjoy the ride. Let God do the driving and just take it easy. I really don't believe that this is scriptural. God took Israel out of Egypt and then took them into a promised land (all be it 40 years later due to some sin issues and grumbling by the Israelites). Once they moved into this land God had promised them, he told them, "Hey guys.....I'm giving you to land but you've got to go in and remove all the inhabitants. I have given them opportunities to repent but they have rejected me so....go in and clean house."

I see this type of mentality carry over into recovery. There are some who wholly lean on the misplaced idea that "Jesus will save my soul and that's all I need." Well, as we say, "Jesus will save your soul, but he won't keep you from drinking." That is a behavior that is developed as you work a program of recovery. One thing I've learned about this God....He is a God of order and as such, His desire is to instill discipline in our lives. Coming from a lifestyle of addiction, discipline and order are terms that are foreign to us.Yes God grants us Power to move beyond our addiction, but there are disciplines that I must put in place in order to live in this new life of sobriety I have been given.

How 'bout you?

Are you ready to be about the business of pressing on?

Food for thought....

God on you....

mb