Imagine the hart — parched, panting, purposeful — searching for water. As each known water hole and stream turns up dry, his search becomes more desperate, his focus on thirst and water sharper.

Nothing, nothing, nothing….

We claim and cling to verses like the following.

“Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled” (Matthew 5:6).

“And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst” (John 6:35).

“For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness” (Psalm 107:9).

“Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you” (Matthew 7:7).

Praise the Lord for promises such as these!

However, Proverbs 1:24-32 has a very pointed warning against presumption.

“Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me” (28).

Got thirst? Do not ignore God!

I wonder if a hart ever drinks because he knows it is necessary or good or both. Or does he drink only when he feels like it; that is, when he is thirsty.

Surely a hart doesn’t wait to drink till he’s panting.

Too often, I do.

“Surely I am more brutish than any man, and have not the understanding of a man. I neither learned wisdom, nor have the knowledge of the holy” (Proverbs 30:2,3).

Whose fault is it if I do not know God (as I ought and as He yearns to be known)?

Mark Roth’s

“I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord…That I may know him…. I follow after…. I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:8, 10, 12, 14).