"Then God said to Jacob, "Go up to Bethel and settle there, and build an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you were fleeing from your brother Esau. So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, "Get rid of the foreign gods you have with you, and purify yourselves and change your clothes.Then come, let us go up to Bethel, where I will build an altar to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and who has been with me wherever I have gone.So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods they had and the rings in their ears, and Jacob buried them under the oak at Shechem." (Gen 35:1-4).
During my days in college, many events took place that permanently shaped the course of my life. Many of these events where spiritual- they were points of consecration to God's will for my life. Whenever I have the opportunity to go back to the college campus and visit the places where these events took place, a holy awe always overcomes me and I feel a sense of renewal. Going back to the places where I made commitment to God inspired the renewal of those commitments.
Now, not often do we hear God telling his people to go back. God usually emphasizes forward motion.
"The LORD said to Moses, “Why do you cry to me? Tell the people of Israel to go forward." (Exodus 14:15)
"The LORD our God said to us at Horeb, "You have stayed long enough at this mountain. Break camp and advance..."(Deut 1:6), and
"Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead" (Philippians 3:13)
However, sometimes you have to go back to be able to move forward.
That was the case with Jacob in our text. Jacob had met God earlier at Bethel. It was that place in his past about 30 years ago, during the time he was fleeing from his brother Esau. It was at Bethel that he saw the ladder that reached heaven, with angels ascending and descending. Bethel was the place that God first spoke to him. It was the place where he made a vow to God. It was the where he encountered God for himself the first time. It was a place of consecration.
However, over the years, other things had crept in. Idols were in his household. Even though God had blessed him tremendously, his commitment and consecration to God were at a lower point than what it used to be in the past. Complacency and defilement had crept in. So, God instructs him to go back to Bethel. It wasn't necessarily an instruction to go to a physical place, but more so a commandment to return to his consecration. Jacob obeyed. Cleansing his house of idols, he departed to Bethel.
Similarly, in your life, there will be times when God will call you to go back to your own Bethel. He will instruct you to return to a place in your life when your commitment was deeper ,your passion and zeal hotter, your love or Him fresher, your life purer, your faith more sincere and childlike . It shouldn't be, but over time, if care is not taken, your love for God and consecration to Him could wax colder. Things you once were passionate about no longer hold any attraction to you. Things you had renounced come in again and rule in your life. Jesus spoke to a church in this condition.
"Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place." (Rev 2:4,5)
This is a command to go back to Bethel, to return to your first love, to renew your commitment to Him. You will need to do what Jacob did. Cleanse yourself of strange things that have crept in. You will need to confess, renounce and separate yourself from them. Then you must begin your journey back to where you used to be so that you can get to where you ought to be.
So make up your mind today, to return to your Bethel. God is waiting for you there.
Decision of the Day
I know that my consecration to God must be maintained. My zeal for Him must remain burning. Today, I return to my first love. To the place where I have fallen from. I renew my commitment to God, cleansing myself from every strange thing. I go back in order to go forward. In Jesus' name.
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