As a deer pants for flowing streams, 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?
Psalm 42:1-2
Greetings in the peace of Christ,
With the hustle and bustle of the summer months well upon us there is a heightened energy in the air as many travellers from across the province and across Canada enter the area for rest and recreation. Now that the public health restrictions have been removed from the religious gatherings of B.C., there is similarly a heightened energy from the normal gathering of God’s people as we find rest and re-creation together in Christ.
While there were other ways of continuing in Christ-community together in spite of restriction, none are as impactful as the physical gathering and the unity of voices raised in praise to God. As the Psalmist expresses in the passage above and as we sang on our full re-opening Sunday, our soul is to long for God as a deer longs for streams of water. As we longed to be gathered together in corporate worship, so our soul longs for God; to know Him and be known by Him, to come and appear before God.
As citizens of the kingdom of God, we go about life as sojourners in a spiritually desolate land, a land that leaves our souls dry and thirsty and needing to continually come and appear before God in order that times of refreshing for our souls may come. Because of the Gospel, Christ has made it possible that we may appear before God; He is the answer to the question of “How can I appear before God?” He is the wellspring of living water that leads to eternal life. Through the busy summer months, let us not forget the incredible salvation that Jesus has won and remember to come to His well and drink and be satisfied in spirit.
Blessings in Christ,
Pastor Scott