Let us press on

I was intrigued by the Bible passage in my GodVine email today:

“Let us acknowledge the LORD; let us press on to acknowledge him. As surely as the sun rises, he will appear; he will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth.”” – Hosea 6:3 (NIV)

• In modern American Chrissy speak, “acknowledge” is a weak act. It’s the kind of thing you say about your debate opponent’s point, right before you say “but” and blow their case out of the water.
• But “press on” is strong. It’s an action word, the kind of thing you say to encourage your fellow travelers to push through their weariness to get to the next rest stop or camping site or finish line. I like this latter idea. It goes well with “as surely as the sun rises” … the night gets awfully long and dark and discouraging, especially around 3 a.m.

I don’t know anything about the original language of this passage, but sometimes I feel I can get some sense of them by comparing parallel translations. I looked up a bunch and found these variations helpful:

Press on

• So let us know, let us press on to know the LORD. His going forth is as certain as the dawn. (NASB)
• Oh, that we might know the LORD! Let us press on to know him! Then he will respond to us as surely as the arrival of dawn. (NLT)

Strive

• Let us know, let us strive to know the LORD; as certain as the dawn is his coming. (NABRE)
• Let us know, let us strive to know Yahweh; that he will come is as certain as the dawn. (New Jerusalem)

Follow on

• And let us know, let us follow on to know Jehovah: his going forth is sure as the morning. (ASV)
• Then shall we know, [if] we follow on to know the LORD: his going forth is prepared as the morning. (KJV)

There’s a strong suggestion here that

1. knowing God requires effort on our part and
2. if we keep on keeping on, even when we feel worn out, He will surely come.

Peter Kreeft lists 12 ways we can know the Lord @ http://peterkreeft.com/topics/12-ways.htm.

I think they can be boiled down to three:

1. study,

2. prayer, and

3. doing God’s will.

The hard part is doing these things DAILY.

Come to think … the “daily” idea is in the Hosea passage’s reference to dawn, isn’t it? Hmm. Food for thought.