4. Getting to know the Lord better

The Lord wants us to spend time with Him. He wants us to get to know Him better and better in order for each of us to be able to grow spiritually and to live our lives the way He intended. And most importantly, He wants us to spend time with Him simply because He loves us and wants to be with us. It is like any other relationship, if you want the relationship to deepen and to grow, you need to dedicate time to it.

The other day I was sitting in the garden during my quiet time with the Lord. I looked up to the two thorn trees we have in the garden. It was spring, but it hasn't started raining as yet, but we use irrigation to water our other plants during this time. Some of the irrigation reached the one thorn tree, but not the other one. I noticed then that the leaves of the thorn tree that got extra water started to come out, but not the leaves of the one who didn't. The one tree looked green and fresh, while the other one still resembled winter. At the end of the day, the leaves of both the trees will eventually come out, one would just be quicker than the other one. And then I realized that it is the same with us. Our spiritual life will grow faster if we water ourselves spiritually. At the end of the day all Christians will go to heaven, but if you want to grow spiritually, look green and fresh, lead a life of abundance and be the first to hear from God, then you need to make time.

It is like Paul says:

"Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the priceless gain of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I may have Christ and become one with Him." Philippians 3:8,9

And how did Paul get to know Jesus better and become one with Him? He spent time with Him. A lot of it.

A while ago I had to find the answer to a certain aspect in my life. I needed to find the answer from the Lord. I asked three Christians close to me to pray about it and tell me what they hear from the Lord concerning this issue of mine. Each of them came back with either a dream, text verse or a feeling that they had. None of it was straight forward. It was like a riddle I had to solve. I wrote everything down and tried to make sense of it all. I looked up to the Lord and presented it to Him and asked Him why He made it so difficult. Why couldn't He just plainly tell me what to do, why all these riddles? And do you know what He said? In the first place He said He will only reveal as much as we need to know/can handle at a certain stage, but most importantly He said that He speaks in riddles in order for us to make time to spend with Him. If we make the time, He will make the riddle clearer and present us with our solution. If He gave us the answer on a straight forward basis, we will not have the need to spend the time with Him, but we will rush on with the task ahead.

Don't fall into the trap of simply rushing to the Lord whenever you need Him. Rush to Him every day, because whether you realize it or not, you actually cannot cope without His love and His guidance. You need Him to be able to function properly and to make the right choices.

Lord, we love You and ask forgiveness that we do not make enough time for You. Other things always seem more important, while it is not even close as important as spending time with You. We look forward to feeling Your warm embrace and greeting You every morning. Amen

1 comment for “4. Getting to know the Lord better”

  1. Gravatar of RonelleRonelle
    Posted Sunday, 12 December 2010 at 9:17:28 PM

    Thank you once again for your special devotion. I loved your example of the thorn trees. It makes the picture so clear. I definitely will spend more time with Him!
    May God bless you!
    Love

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