Today's Passage - Psalm 42:1

River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english Psalm 42:1   As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God.   "As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you," that is such a desperate plea! Our souls pant for the Lord, just like how deer pants for water. When a deer is thirsty, it can smell water from afar. Even though it might need to walk a long way, like over a day, and encounter all kinds of dangers in order to reach the water, the deer will eventually get there. A deer's eagerness for water is a desperate cry, not something optional, and it doesn't matter how much danger or hardship it has to endure in order to obtain water.   There are two parts to our eagerness. First, we must know that we are lacking. If we don't feel that we're lacking, we won't bother seeking. Second, we must know the abundance of our God. Even if you know that you're lacking, if you don't know where the answer is, you won't know whether God will provide you with answer, and you won't be eager. It's just like when Jesus joined the wedding banquet at Cana, His mother was with Him. During the banquet, when the mother of Jesus saw that their wine was finished, she realized that she was lacking. Therefore, she went before Jesus and said that there's no more wine. She made such a simple comment because she knew that Jesus had the answer and she believes that Jesus had a way. She knew that there's abundance in Jesus, so she brought the problem before Him. Her heart was eager because she knew that she was lacking and that there's abundance in the Lord.   When the daughter of Jairus, the one written in the Gospels who was the synagogue leader, was nearly dead, Jairus looked for Jesus. At the time, synagogue leaders would have strict tradition from the Pharisees, but when Jairus saw that his daughter was almost dead, he betrayed Judaism and went to Jesus. On the one hand he saw that he was lacking, and on the other he saw the abundance in the Lord, and thus His eagerness was founded. In the same way, the woman who had bleeding problem spent all her life savings but couldn't be healed, and then she heard that Jesus had healing power. Even though there were a bunch of people surrounding Jesus, she still tried to touch the clothes of Jesus by faith, because she believed that as soon as she touches the clothes of Jesus she would be healed. The bleeding woman had deep eagerness because she knew that she was lacking, and also she knew God's abundance. Brothers and sisters, is your heart eager for the Lord? Very often we are not eager because we don't see that we're lacking, and we don't see the abundance of God. May the Spirit of the Lord help us, let us turn back before God and look upon Him by faith. May God give us the spirit of eagerness in our hearts!   Pray with Pastor Tong          Lord, have mercy on us! We don't see that we're lacking, and we're not sure that you have the answer to everything in our life, so we don't have such an eager heart for you. May the Lord forgive us, help us to turn back our hearts and let us sole be eager for you. I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!