acknowledge
“Let us acknowledge the Lord; let us press on to acknowledge him; As surely as the sun rises, he will appear; he will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth.”
Hosea 6:3 NIV
God desires people to actually know Him & not just know Him while disregarding what He considers important.
In Israel, the only way crops were watered was by the rain — Farmers waited for the rain with great anticipation. I love the metaphor of this in terms of how we as God’s children get to anticipate and wait for God with this kind of earnest expectation. Knowing that God himself brings forth life just as the rain brings forth life and waters the earth. I also love the beautiful depiction of the certainty of God as the certainty of the sun rising which is something we get to count on every single day.
You see, Israel’s problem at the time described previously in Hosea 4:6 was due to a “lack of knowledge.” Hosea leads the nation in repentance toward correcting this problem. This is a great invitation for us to take to heart in knowing that when we pursue the knowledge of the Lord, God himself blesses it. It is a life-long pursuit devoid of superficiality as it is a devoted heart He seeks and a devoted heart it takes. The pursuit of knowing Him through the Word has and always will be for the benefit of His children— intended to draw their hearts toward Himself so that they would be transformed, so they may lean on Him completely.
God desires people to actually know Him and not just know Him while disregarding what He considers important. Living a life of obedience and love is a hallmark of a devoted, worshipping heart which stands in stark contrast to a life of going through the motions: outwardly sacrificing and saying/doing the right things, yet inwardly neglecting the intimacy of truly knowing God.
As followers of Jesus, we are invited to live a life of true worship. True devotion. True intimacy. We are invited to “acknowledge Him in all our ways and He will make straight the paths.” (Proverbs 3:6) When we as believers joyfully surrender every day to the Father with devoted hearts and expectant obedience, with compassion towards others — we become living, breathing representations of a heart turned toward God rooted in love and therefore choosing to worship Him in spirit and in truth.
Let us acknowledge Him this week — let us lean into true intimacy with our Father.
In Joy, Peace + Love,
Riley Rae Baker
additional reading:
Psalm 100:3 / Job 22:28 / Proverbs 16:3 / Romans 11:36 / 2 Corinthians 3:5/ Revelation 4:11
reflect:
What in my life may be blocking a “lack of knowledge” of Jesus? What might be blocking a lack of knowledge of His heart for me? Name it and release it back to Him.
centering prayer:
God, I thank you that you made me for you. Help me to take seriously what you consider important and help me by the power of the Holy Spirit to continue to gain a deeper intimacy and knowledge of You. amen.
