As each year draws to a close, we often find ourselves reflecting on our achievements during the year. Some may look back feeling satisfied with what they accomplished, while others may feel quite dissatisfied.
Typically, those who look back with satisfaction also look forward to greater accomplishments in the upcoming year. And those who feel dissatisfied with last year’s achievements often make New Year’s resolutions to do better in the year that lies before them.
The desire to improve our lives with each new year began in the heart of God. Notice what Psalm 65:11 says: “You crown the year with a bountiful harvest; even the hard pathways overflow with abundance” (NLT).
Only those with hungry hearts will do whatever it takes to remain on the path of abundance. Second Chronicles 15:2 tells us to make Him our “soul’s first necessity” (AMP). An indifferent attitude toward the things of God will never bring abundance. It is only as we seek Him, making Him our first need rather than our last resort, that He will lead us on the path of abundant blessing.
David hungered after the Lord with this kind of desperation. He said, “As the deer thirsts for streams of water, so I thirst for You” (Psalm 42:1 NCV). David knew what it was like to spend day after day in a waterless wilderness. He had experienced the kind of thirst and dehydration that caused his body to desperately pant for water.
David spent much of his youth tending his father’s sheep, so he knew that without water the desert becomes life-threatening. And in the same way that a deer cannot survive one day in the desert without water, neither will we endure these perilous times without the refreshing of the Lord.
The Bible also records Moses’ desperate cry. After seeing the miracles that God perform, Moses still hungered to know the Lord in a more intimate way.
“Now therefore, I pray You, if I have found favor in Your sight, let me know Your ways that I may know You…” (Exodus 33:13 NAS).
Although Moses was an eyewitness of the signs and wonders God had performed, he was anything but satisfied. His hunger for more of God drove him to seek the Lord with even more intensity. Moses’ words demonstrate that his craving for God was the most important necessity of life. Finally, his hunger initiated this desperate plea to God: “…I beseech You, show me Your glory” (v. 18).
Moses didn’t crave the miracles, signs, and wonders as the children of Israel did. Instead, Moses longed to know God. He was so desperately serious about experiencing the Presence of God that he refused to move without it: “…If Your Presence does not go with me, do not carry us up from here!” (v. 15 NAS).
Jesus said, “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need” (Matthew 6:33 NLT). What a promise! With the onset of every new year, we can expect to experience the goodness of God if we will only put Him first! The choice is ours. If we choose correctly, a year of goodness and blessing awaits us!
