And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of
Bethel, and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east:
and there he builded an altar unto the LORD, and called upon the name of the
LORD. (Gen 12:8)
It was said that Sadhu Sundar Singh wrote a simple but
meaning chorus that says ‘I have decided to follow Jesus…. The world behind me,
the cross before me’. Is that becoming a
working reality in you and me? Interestingly the instruction to Moses was to
build the entrance of the Tabernacle on the east hence worship was westward
as opposed to eastward pagan worship of the sun. The worship of YHWH is directly
antithetical from the world. Ai stands for ‘ruin’ and Bethel, ‘House of God’. In
the perspective of our Holy God, there is no room for syncretism (Exo 29:3),
the other alternative brings us to destruction (Matt 7:13).
Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth;
fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness,
which is idolatry: (Col 3:5)
The last command at the end of 1 John is, ‘Little children,
keep yourselves from idols. Amen’. Our refusal to allow God to conform us into
His moral character constitute idolatry (I Sam 15:23). The root of stubbornness is from a strong mind
or will, which can lead to rebellion by upholding one’s own desires and rights above
God’s hence the worship and exaltation of self. In that refusal our thoughts and actions revolve
around self. We need to be delivered from individualism and narcissism to be
found in the place of oneness and communion with Christ, as He is with the
Father.
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