Press On
While Great Britain’s back was against the wall defending herself against Hitler’s fierce German army and relentless bombing campaign, Winston Churchill was asked to speak to a group of discouraged Londoners. During his speech, he spoke the now famous words to a weary and worried British audience:
Winston Churchill didn’t just talk the talk. Against seemingly overwhelming odds and the relentless attacks of the enemy, he exemplified convictional determination and leadership which was instrumental in winning the war against Nazi Germany.
Not long before Israel would fall to the Assyrians and would be brought into captivity in 722 BC, Hosea prophesied to his people, not only warning them of the enemy without, but of the enemy within. Israel was its own worst enemy.
In times of peace and prosperity their hearts were prone to wander from God and into idolatry. But God didn’t give up on His people. To demonstrate the kind of patience and love that God had for his people during times when they turned to other gods, Hosea was instructed to marry a prostitute named Gomer (Hosea 1:2).
It appears that after some time in which Gomer and Hosea had children and were raising a family, that Gomer ran off and was back to her old prostituting ways. But again, the Lord instructed Hosea to pursue his adulterous wife.
Gomer, who had gone back to a life of prostitution, ended up a slave. She was no longer selling herself, but was being sold by someone who no longer had any use for her. It was in that condition that Hosea bought her from her slave owner and brought her back home; not to be his bond slave, but to be his beloved wife (Hosea 3:1-5).
What God wanted to demonstrate to Israel and to us today through the marriage of Gomer and Hosea, was not only the tendency of his people to drift from the Lord and run after other lovers, but His pursuing, relentless, and steadfast love for His people.
Moreover, God's word doesn’t just demonstrate the love that He had for His covenant people; it tells of the love that God has for lost and fallen sinners. Man rebelled against Him, but God in His pursuing and redeeming love sent Jesus to buy us back from the slave market of sin. To satisfy the just demands of a holy God, Jesus laid down His life for our sin so that all who believe can be reconciled to God, can be become sons and daughters of God, and can be, like Gomer, brought back home to know a love relationship with God (Romans 5:8).
But like the children of Israel in Hosea’s day, our hearts our prone to wander after the things of this world—things that promise much, but do not ultimately satisfy the deepest needs of our hearts. Concerning the children of Israel, Hosea wrote:
Habitual sin can be an indication that we don’t know the Lord. But nevertheless, even those who know the Lord will struggle with sin. We will never be sinless this side of heaven, but as we grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord, we will sin less. But again, like the children of Israel, we Christians are prone to wander. The old hymn says it best:
How can we, like the hymnast so eloquently suggests, bind our wandering hearts to the Lord to keep from drifting? How can we receive the grace that we need to check ourselves before we wreck ourselves? In Hosea 4:6a, the prophet gives this diagnosis for why the children of Israel wrecked their lives: “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge;” The prophet was speaking of the knowledge of God that comes from His word.
Like Winston Churchill who saw the destruction that would come if his nation did not take a stand and exhorted his people to never give in, Hosea shared these powerful words to His people on the verge of captivity:
We can not afford to have a causal attitude about growing in the knowledge of God. Hosea exhorted his people to "press on to know the Lord.” In the Hebrew translation to English, "press on" can also be translated to "strive" or to "pursue." To pursue implies continual forward motion. Moreover, to press on and to strive has the idea of being resolute and determined. We never stop, we never give in, and we never give up.
To pursue the knowledge of the Holy with all our hearts, we must immerse ourselves in God’s Holy Book (Colossians 3:16; John 8:31-32). God has revealed Himself in His word.
Apart from knowing God through His word, we will drift from God if we are not being transformed by the word. We will conform to the world (Romans 12:1-3). The devil knows this, therefore he will seek to keep you from the word. As A.W. Tozer put it: "Satan's greatest weapon is man's ignorance of God's Word."
But its important to emphasize that our need to get into the word is not just about head knowledge. We get into the word of God so that we can come to know the God of the word. For this reason Tozer also noted:
Now, to help us apply this biblical idea of pressing on, there’s a helpful acronym that spells out "press on" that I learned and modified. (Source)
How we can press on to know the Lord through His word:
When we get into the word daily to live, we will in time live to get into the word. Never give up. Press on to know the Lord!
-Pastor Marco
“Never give in—never, never, never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.”
Winston Churchill didn’t just talk the talk. Against seemingly overwhelming odds and the relentless attacks of the enemy, he exemplified convictional determination and leadership which was instrumental in winning the war against Nazi Germany.
Not long before Israel would fall to the Assyrians and would be brought into captivity in 722 BC, Hosea prophesied to his people, not only warning them of the enemy without, but of the enemy within. Israel was its own worst enemy.
In times of peace and prosperity their hearts were prone to wander from God and into idolatry. But God didn’t give up on His people. To demonstrate the kind of patience and love that God had for his people during times when they turned to other gods, Hosea was instructed to marry a prostitute named Gomer (Hosea 1:2).
It appears that after some time in which Gomer and Hosea had children and were raising a family, that Gomer ran off and was back to her old prostituting ways. But again, the Lord instructed Hosea to pursue his adulterous wife.
Gomer, who had gone back to a life of prostitution, ended up a slave. She was no longer selling herself, but was being sold by someone who no longer had any use for her. It was in that condition that Hosea bought her from her slave owner and brought her back home; not to be his bond slave, but to be his beloved wife (Hosea 3:1-5).
What God wanted to demonstrate to Israel and to us today through the marriage of Gomer and Hosea, was not only the tendency of his people to drift from the Lord and run after other lovers, but His pursuing, relentless, and steadfast love for His people.
Moreover, God's word doesn’t just demonstrate the love that He had for His covenant people; it tells of the love that God has for lost and fallen sinners. Man rebelled against Him, but God in His pursuing and redeeming love sent Jesus to buy us back from the slave market of sin. To satisfy the just demands of a holy God, Jesus laid down His life for our sin so that all who believe can be reconciled to God, can be become sons and daughters of God, and can be, like Gomer, brought back home to know a love relationship with God (Romans 5:8).
But like the children of Israel in Hosea’s day, our hearts our prone to wander after the things of this world—things that promise much, but do not ultimately satisfy the deepest needs of our hearts. Concerning the children of Israel, Hosea wrote:
“They shall eat, but not be satisfied; they shall play the whore, but not multiply, because they have forsaken the Lord to cherish whoredom, wine, and new wine, which take away the understanding.” Hosea 4:10-11
Habitual sin can be an indication that we don’t know the Lord. But nevertheless, even those who know the Lord will struggle with sin. We will never be sinless this side of heaven, but as we grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord, we will sin less. But again, like the children of Israel, we Christians are prone to wander. The old hymn says it best:
O to grace how great a debtor
daily I’m constrained to be!
Let that grace now, like a fetter,
bind my wandering heart to thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
prone to leave the God I love;
here’s my heart; O take and seal it; seal it for thy courts above.
How can we, like the hymnast so eloquently suggests, bind our wandering hearts to the Lord to keep from drifting? How can we receive the grace that we need to check ourselves before we wreck ourselves? In Hosea 4:6a, the prophet gives this diagnosis for why the children of Israel wrecked their lives: “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge;” The prophet was speaking of the knowledge of God that comes from His word.
Like Winston Churchill who saw the destruction that would come if his nation did not take a stand and exhorted his people to never give in, Hosea shared these powerful words to His people on the verge of captivity:
“Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord; his going out is sure as the dawn; he will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth.” Hosea 6:1-3
We can not afford to have a causal attitude about growing in the knowledge of God. Hosea exhorted his people to "press on to know the Lord.” In the Hebrew translation to English, "press on" can also be translated to "strive" or to "pursue." To pursue implies continual forward motion. Moreover, to press on and to strive has the idea of being resolute and determined. We never stop, we never give in, and we never give up.
To pursue the knowledge of the Holy with all our hearts, we must immerse ourselves in God’s Holy Book (Colossians 3:16; John 8:31-32). God has revealed Himself in His word.
Apart from knowing God through His word, we will drift from God if we are not being transformed by the word. We will conform to the world (Romans 12:1-3). The devil knows this, therefore he will seek to keep you from the word. As A.W. Tozer put it: "Satan's greatest weapon is man's ignorance of God's Word."
But its important to emphasize that our need to get into the word is not just about head knowledge. We get into the word of God so that we can come to know the God of the word. For this reason Tozer also noted:
“The Bible is not an end in itself, but a means to bring men to an intimate and satisfying knowledge of God, that they may enter into Him, that they may delight in His Presence, may taste and know the inner sweetness of the very God Himself in the core and center of their hearts.”
Now, to help us apply this biblical idea of pressing on, there’s a helpful acronym that spells out "press on" that I learned and modified. (Source)
How we can press on to know the Lord through His word:
- Pray: We must pray and ask God to help us understand the word by His Spirit. But prayer is more than seeking something from God, like understanding. The essence of prayer is communion with God. So pray as you're reading the word, pray about what you're reading, pray about what God is revealing to you. Praise God for who He is! True prayer and worship is the response of all I am to the revelation of all God is. For more on worship based prayer clink on the link: Learning to Pray with the Master
- Read: Read the word of God daily. The word is food for our souls. Job said, “I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my portion of food.” (Job 23:12)
- Examine: God doesn’t just bless Bible readers, but Bible meditators (Psalm 1:1-3). Think about the following questions and write down your answers in a journal: “What do I need to know about God, myself and others? What do I need to change in my thoughts, attitudes, or actions? What do I need to do in obedience to God’s leading?” Study the word. Take a class on systematic theology.
- Summarize: Journal a quick summary of what you read. Reflect! Write down what God is revealing about Himself and His will and make it a matter of prayer. “The weakest ink is better than the best memory.” Ponder the attributes of God deeply.
- Share: “This is one we typically forget. Who would benefit from hearing your thoughts? Maybe a Christian brother or sister needs to be encouraged. Maybe your unchurched neighbor would benefit from hearing. Whomever it is, share what God taught you.”
- Obey: We must be more than readers and hearers of God’s word. We must be doers. “But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.” (James 1:25)
- Never give up: Remember, there are many forces in the world working to keep us from knowing the Lord in prayer and the word. We must not give up or give in. We must not be led by our feelings, but led by faith that is shaped by the word. To press on implies continuous grace filled actions and effort. We get into the word whether we feel like it or not.
When we get into the word daily to live, we will in time live to get into the word. Never give up. Press on to know the Lord!
-Pastor Marco