ISAIAH 64:1-4 – Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains might quake at your presence – as when fire kindles brushwood and the fire causes water to boil— to make your name known to your adversaries, and that the nations might tremble at your presence! When you did awesome things that we did not look for, you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence. From of old no one has heard or perceived by the ear, no eye has seen a God besides you, who acts for those who wait for him.
THEME OF THE DAY. YEARNING FOR HIM. Today’s scripture can be one of those portions of God’s Word that makes us stop in our tracks and instead of just mindlessly reading on, we do immediate self-examination. I realize we should always be in the “reflective or meditative mode of self-examination” when reading the Bible, but sometimes this mode comes upon us with greater force than normal. Like today’s passage from Isaiah did for me.
As I was reading it, then reflecting upon it, the question came to my mind and heart which I now send to your mind and heart – “Am I (we) as intense in my (our) desire for God’s Presence to revive my (your) heart and to make Himself known to all the nations as the prophet was?” Listen to the prophet’s prayer. Listen to the zeal, the yearning for God’s Presence and power to be revealed. One can feel his passion – “Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains might quake your presence”. His heart is bursting for his God. He wants so desperately to know the power and joy of being in His Presence.
Friends, any spiritual growth in Christ; any intimacy with God in prayer; any deep enjoyment of Him in His Word; and any conformity to the image of the Lord Jesus begins with the heart of the prophet – intense desire for God. And its importance cannot be overstated. When this desire is weak or non-existent in the child of God so will be an undisciplined and inconsistent spiritual life. The signs of this indifference will be neglect in reading the Bible or a mindless reading of the Bible, a dull prayer life, and hit and miss church attendance. Sadly, Christians often profess a desire to know God, but they deceive themselves by lacking the very thing affirming their desire for God is real – the spiritual self-discipline of the body and time necessary to turn desire into reality. King Solomon uses “in your face” language to describe this laziness – The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied (Proverbs 13:4). Craving for the Lord is only genuine when we put ourselves into the spiritual gymnasium and seek Him with a consistent, diligent, and fervent heart. And that means learning to say “no” to anything or anyone that would keep us from unhurried time in the Word; undistracted time in prayer; and taking hold of our flesh by not allowing it to place physical comfort above spiritual discipline. Without this resolve to say “no”, and continual resolve to say “no”, any proclaimed desire to know the Lord is simply false. True desire always leads to uncompromising discipline to fulfill the desire.
Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains might quake at your presence! May we be able to join the prophet in his sincere desire to know more and more the glorious Person of our Lord.
PRAYER: “Father, deepen my hunger for You to send revival to me personally and Your church collectively.”
QUOTE: “The Spirit of God not only makes us new creatures in Christ but plants a desire to pursue Him.”