by Genesis 35:1 “Then God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there; and make an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you fled from the face of Esau your brother.”
Many years ago, there was a popular Christian song that went something like this: “If you can take me to the cross, I can find my way back home”. It was inspired from the story of a young boy in London who stood crying on a street corner. A policeman approached him and asked what was wrong. The lad responded that he was lost but he remembered that there was a church near his home that had a large, lit up cross. If the officer could help him find that cross, he could find his way back home from there.
I can relate to that lost boy. When I was in Junior High School, we moved to a new town. It was my first day to attend my new school and I became confused by the train of buses waiting to take us home. I didn’t know which one to board and consequently, missed my bus. We didn’t have a phone yet and I wasn’t even sure of my complete address. But, I new the school was near the shopping mall and if I could just get to the mall, I knew I could find my way back to my house! As I walked in that general direction, I would ask strangers along the way to help direct me. Finally, exhausted, I arrived at the mall! From there, I found my way home!
This reminds me of how we can get lost in our Christian walk. Oft times, we may become so buried with the cares of this world (and, yes, even the ministry), that we do not realize our spiritual life is suffering. Then, suddenly, we come to realize where we are! How did we get to that point? How do we find our way back? We must go back to the cross just as Jacob went back to Bethel. We need to cry out to God as the sinner did in the Temple, asking God to be merciful to us.
God told Jacob to return to Bethel which means, “house of God”. He needed to get back to that beginning spot and start off anew and changed. God is our foundation and His word is our compass. If we are to get back on the right road, we must come back to the cross wherein our salvation and Christian life began. From here, we can find our way home.
Gail Alford
I love this! It is so easy for any of us to get off track and to get lost. Sometimes we are so busy, we do not even know we are lost, until something happens. Then we try to go back to God and realize that we have not been to church, have not read our Bible or prayed in a long while. We look back and think, “How did that happen.” It is never to late to get back and return to God. He opens us with open arms. I love our loving Savior. He forgives, forgets and comforts us at all times. Thanks for sharing this.