As the deer pants for water…

When the Jews were exiled to Babylon, the Lord told them that after a period of 70 years of captivity, he would allow them to return to their homeland. Even though God sent them away, he still kept his eye on them.

“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.”

As a deer pants for water, we ought to seek after the Lord through our prayers and supplications for He is our refuge. When confronted with our sin, we need to find ourselves sincerely in a place of a penitent and contrite heart, which he says he will not despise, and, like the Jews, he will come to us just as he encouraged the Jews through his discipline to see their need for him.

“Then ye shall call upon me and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you…”

It is only through grace that we can enter into a relationship with the Lord, but our hearts must be earnestly open and yielding to whatever he wants to show us.