Desiring God

Psalm 42:1-2 says, "As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?"

That is the truest expression of a child of God in worship. His "soul thirsts for God." When was the last time you thirsted for God? When was the last time you wanted God more than anything? When you want God that much then you are prepared to meet with Him. Anything less falls short. But we must understand that there is a problem that you and I must address on a constant basis. It's the issue of sin. Charles Spurgeon said, "Sin will keep you from this Book and this Book will keep you from sin." In order to understand the Scriptures you must make every effort to deal with the impurity in your life. This process is known as sanctification. Paul said in 1 Thessalonians 4:3 - "For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality." Sanctification is another word for being holy or set apart to God. To be holy it requires that we confess and forsake our sin. Proverbs 28:13 says, "He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy." Confessing and forsaking sin, in Peter's terms, means to "put off, to put away" (Gr.apothemenoi). This word used in 1 Peter 2:1 translated "lay aside," comes with imperative force stating that we must deal with our sin. Kenneth Wuest says that it "suggests a once and for all action of separating oneself from sin."

If you want to have a heart that pants after God , then you must put off all sin. Remember "sin will grow without sowing but holiness needs cultivation" (Charles Spurgeon).