I remember attending a seminar for work ages ago, but only remember a couple of points, one being seeking first to understand rather than to be understood. But in our sinful nature we are hard-wired to seek our own wants and needs, but the Holy Spirit is changing us into new creatures.

When Jesus met the woman at the well, He told her things she didn’t understand as her mind was set on the things of earth. “Jesus said to her, ‘Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.'” (John 4:13-14) She didn’t understand until He told her things about herself he couldn’t possibly know.

As I am seeking to know my Lord more and more, I’m spending more time meditating on His Word and in prayer. I continue to be drawn to different to the psalms. “Teach me, O Lord, the way of Your statutes; and I will keep it to the end. Give me understanding, that I may keep Your law and observe it with my whole heart.” (Ps 119:33-34)

As with the Samaritan woman, unless we ask the Lord to give us an understanding of His Word, we cannot understand how He wants us to apply it to our lives. I asked quite a while back to understand His Word and what He would have me do. One of the Scriptures I was drawn to is in the Beatitudes. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” (Matt 5:6)

If we want to know Him so much that we hunger and thirst for His Word, He promises that we will be satisfied. Many will seek blessings in their pocket and focus on one verse, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” (Jer 29:11)

But we must read God’s Word in context, which continues: “Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will hear you. You will seek Me and find Me, when you seek Me with all your heart.” (Jer 29:12-13) In order to learn the way of the Lord’s statutes to keep them, we must first seek to know the Lord with our whole hearts.

In order to love and fear Him as He commands, we must spend time with Him so that we know the One true God. “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” (Matt 22:37) 

In my meditation asking the Lord to allow me to know and understand His desire for me, I became very aware of a truth. When I ask “teach me, O Lord, the way of Your statutes; and I will keep it to the end. Give me understanding, that I may keep Your law and observe it with my whole heart” then I realize to love Him, I must know Him.

And to truly know Him as the righteous and just God Almighty, I know I must obey Him. He is not only my Savior, but my Lord and Master. There’s no room for pride, for His Word says, “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you” (James 4:10). Only His approval matters. Others will come in and out of your life, but the Lord is everlasting. Thank You, Jesus!