Deuteronomy 21:17 But he shall acknowledge the son of the hated for the firstborn, by giving him a double portion of all that he hath: for he is the beginning of his strength; the right of the firstborn is his.

Proverbs 3:6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

The Lord gave me a word this morning, acknowledge. With it I had an understanding, a direction, and the hopes for a meaningful devotional. So I searched the scriptures for meaning.

The uses here are derived from two different Hebrew words with many similar meanings. The context will render different meanings only if you study deep enough to understand how those words were received in a moment of time.

What did the Lord tell me in that moment?

Forsake what I know for who I know.

Don’t bother to understand in context, you will not find it. The message was relational. It is within my heart, within my experience, and is meant for me at this time with purpose. It is personal.

Do you take the Word of the Lord personal? Does it speak into your heart, your experience, in the moment, with purpose and power? We get so caught up in being theologically correct that we miss the greater opportunity to see God getting personal with us.

I do not know what is in your heart, God does. I do not know what you are going through, God does. I do not know what your personal needs are, God does.

Having said that, why should we rely on anyone but God for personal relational needs?

John 19:41d “I thirst.”

Jesus Christ has just taken upon Himself the sins of humanity, all our sins, from all time. What does He have to say about that? “I thirst.” You might not be curious about that, but as I study the scriptures, it is the first time Jesus ever uttered those words aloud. Even at the well with the Samaritan woman, He did not say those words.

John 4:10 Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.

He merely said, “Give me to drink.” Now why is this significant? What possesses me to bring this minor point to light today? Because I thirst. Not the thirst of dryness, another type of thirst. Righteousness. This day, this moment, I seek to be right before my God in what I bring to you this day.

John 19:35 And he that saw it bare record, and his record is true: and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye might believe.

I want my witness to be like John’s witness, true. Only John among the gospel writers was there that day. Only John reported the words of our Lord, “I thirst.” In this I see a direct connection to why it was the only time Jesus ever said “I thirst.”

Matthew 5:6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

It was the first time in His life that Jesus thirsted after righteousness. He who knew no sin became sin. Our sin, our unrighteousness gave Him that thirst for the first and only time. It was so important they those words were His last spoken before He said, “It is finished.”

Do you thirst?