This morning I was reading Matthew 13 and was struck by verses 16-17:

But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. For truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.
Matthew 13:16-17 (ESV)

I read this passage and one thought hit me, all of the prophets and righteous people of the Old Testament longed to know what we know about Jesus and likely would have given their life to learn the  teachings that I take for granted.

I love my Bible, but in truth, reading it sometimes becomes a chore and a duty rather than a thrill and a passion.

Too often I read the words but am left unchanged as though God weren’t present within His living word. Too often I have allowed someone else to teach me as an inactive participant rather than opening my mind and heart to His life changing message as an engaged worshiper. Too often I have read His word without remembering or embracing the power and authority that it holds. And, too often I have allowed the business of this life to fool me into thinking that I don’t have time to read the very words that bring life.

I can’t / won’t do that anymore. I find myself longing to see and hear. Yearning to know and understand just a little more of God than I did before. My line is drawn, I am moving forward.