Panting After the Word!

Psalms 42:1  As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.          


Does your soul pant after God?  Do you feel incomplete if you do not have your time with God each day?  Do you long to hear His voice?  Does your heart cry out to Him in prayer?  Here David is saying that his soul is panting after God.  Do you have a clear picture of what that means?


A hart is a deer, after it has run through the forest, he will be out of breath and longing for water.  I've never seen a deer pant but I've seen a dog that has been chasing birds or squirrels and they will run themselves until they can barely walk and then they will head to the nearest water.  They will drink, drink and drink so more.  They just can't seem to get enough of it.  Sometimes they will be really tired and they will lay down with their head over in the water bucket just gulping it up.  


Is that how you come to God?  You have been running and you are tire but you know where the refreshing is.  You sit/lay down with your Bible in front of you,  you do devour the Word looking for your spiritual thirst to be quenched?  Do you fall with your face in the water of the Word seeking to cool your body with the water of life?  That is the picture David is painting here and it should be the picture of our desire to reach God and what He has for us.         


How long has it been since you went into Bible study with your soul thirsting for  God's word and the message He has for you?  Do you take notes as you study, run references to see how the verses relate to other parts of the scripture?  What is your Bible study like?  Do you have a set time to study each day?  Do you have a time limit on that study?


In today's hectic world often we do good (in our minds) to read a few verses but how does that make God feel?  He has feelings.  I imagine at times He feels like that parent or grandparent that has been placed somewhere and the family doesn't come to see often.  Oh they are glad to see you when you come but they miss you so when you don't.  God misses you when you don't come to Him in prayer and you don't desire to hear from Him in Bible study.  The holy God of heaven, He longs for you to want to be with Him.  Yet we neglect Him, we fail to come to Him.  He is often our source of last resort.


Lord, help me to pant after You.  Help me to understand how much You want me to come to You.  Make my desire be to be in the center of Your will.