”And he moved from there to the mountain east of Bethel, and he pitched his tent with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; there he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord.“
Bethel loosely translates to the house of God or place of worship, and Ai represents the world.
Abraham pitching a tent to worship between a place that represents the presence of God, and the world is no small teaching for us. There is often a common misconception that we have to stop everything we are doing in order to worship God, and this in essence becomes one of the reasons many people repulse having a consistent discipline in spiritual matters — it seems tedious. It has not been taught enough that you, the New Testament believer is Bethel, the very house of worship in which God dwells
Selah!There is nothing wrong with setting aside quiet time to intentionally seek God, do not get me wrong. Many times, however, this notion becomes a trap that keeps you from living a consistent life of basking in Holy awe and constant worship.
reads: For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So, they have no excuse for not knowing God.
Paul is telling us that every side of creation that we look at spells something that points to God. A man that has fully matured into the understanding of being Bethel Himself has praise and worship at the tip of their tongue. When they have reason to exclaim their lips can’t help but utter “glory to God”.
When they have a good or bad day their praise does not leave them one bit for in all things, we “give thanks”. When they have a reason to mourn or to celebrate, they will say “He is good”, and not as a manipulative right speech to twist His hand into doing anything, but because they believe He truly is GOOD. When a song departs from their mouth it cannot help but be an ode to the Host of heaven for truly, it is in Him that we live, move, and have our being (
). Praise God!Prayer: Father, we thank you for this truth. Everything within and around me gives me a reason to praise the wonderful and mighty works of your hands. I keep to remembrance with awe and reverence the mystery of you dwelling in me, making me your living temple. May we never lose the wonder in Christ, our hope of glory. Amen!
CI.