There are three longings in God’s heart toward you—for honesty, loyalty, and intimacy.
If we were going to squeeze the Old Testament into just four words, what would they be? We might select “The Lord is God,” or Jehovah is the El. Sometimes the plural form Elohim is used, not speaking of many gods but of the Supreme God. The question, Who is the God? runs from the battle in Eden through the showdown in Egypt and the conflict at Carmel. Similarly, the New Testament could be compressed into these four words: “Jesus Christ is Lord.” The Jehovah of the Old Testament is the Jesus of the New. So it is with much interest that we notice this phrase in Deuteronomy: “The Lord your God.” It occurs 239 times in this book, so you can hardly miss it. And what a wonderful change occurs to “The Lord is God” when it becomes “The Lord your God”! Hear David cry from the wilderness, “O God, You are my God; early will I seek You; my soul thirsts for You; my flesh longs for You in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water” (Ps 63:1). Are you thirsty for God? It’s both encouraging and humbling to know that I can have as much of God as I want. He makes Himself available to everyone who desires Him to be their personal God. Moses could say to Israel, “You are a holy people to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth” (Deut 7:6). Unfortunately, they came to conclude that the One who desired to be their personal God was therefore their private God, only for them. But the true believer says, Come slake your thirst for God where I did! “The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’ And let him who hears say, ‘Come!’ And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely” (Rev 22:17).