Whenever I read the Scriptures, I want to try and understand what really happened by placing myself in the story. For instance, at the coming of Christ many people were fed, healed, and resurrected (Luke 7:20-23). Out of the thousands that had some contact with Him, only one hundred and twenty were together on the Day of Pentecost. It bothers me to think that I could have been around Jesus Christ and still miss the fact that He was the Messiah. Christ came and the Pharisees and Sadducees were so concerned about their own interpretation of the Law that they could not receive Christ.
It is important to develop a constant awareness and relationship with the Lord to keep up with what He is doing. We can do that by taking time to read His Living Word, pray, and meditate on His Word. Over and over we see examples in the Scriptures that God is always doing something new and we must be anticipating and prepared to receive it (Matthew 9:17).
On the other hand we also tend to focus on the things we can do for God instead of getting to know Him in a relationship. We see this in the story of Mary and Martha (Matthew 7:41-42). Sometimes it is easy to emphasize the gifts of the Spirit, or the performance of the ministry, but we forget that all the gifts are given so that we get to know the Lord. Both in 1 Corinthians 13:1-10 and Matthew 7:21-23 we see that what really matters is that we get to know the Lord and His love.
1 Corinthians 10:11–12