In Genesis 35:1, 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." It was time for a new start for Jacob
and his descendants after the incident of the rape of Dinah by Shechem,
son of Hamor the Hevite, but he understood that such a new start with
God would not be possible with strange gods in their possession,
therefore, he said to all with him, "Get rid of the foreign gods you
have with you, and purify yourselves and change your clothes."
The same is true for us today, if we want God as a co-traveller on our journey, we must rid our lives of all strange gods which I call functional gods. In the days of Jacob, theirs were physical objects, but in our time, strange (functional) gods are not merely physical. "A functional god is anything we reach for in our lives that is more central or fundamental to our identity than God and our relationship with him." But if the true and living God is to go with us in this year, every functional god must be disposed of in the same way that Jacob rid his camp of strange gods.
Each one of us knows what represents a functional god in our own lives; for some, it may be ambition, for others, it may be a relationship, yet, for some others, it may be covetousness, which is idolatry, etc. Whatever your functional god is, if you desire the presence of God as you journey through this year, that god must be expelled from your life. Jacob told those with him to purify themselves and wash their clothes because they were going to Bethel, the house of God. We are the spiritual Bethel, and should we not rid ourselves of every functional god so that only the Lord will be our God?
Toni
The same is true for us today, if we want God as a co-traveller on our journey, we must rid our lives of all strange gods which I call functional gods. In the days of Jacob, theirs were physical objects, but in our time, strange (functional) gods are not merely physical. "A functional god is anything we reach for in our lives that is more central or fundamental to our identity than God and our relationship with him." But if the true and living God is to go with us in this year, every functional god must be disposed of in the same way that Jacob rid his camp of strange gods.
Each one of us knows what represents a functional god in our own lives; for some, it may be ambition, for others, it may be a relationship, yet, for some others, it may be covetousness, which is idolatry, etc. Whatever your functional god is, if you desire the presence of God as you journey through this year, that god must be expelled from your life. Jacob told those with him to purify themselves and wash their clothes because they were going to Bethel, the house of God. We are the spiritual Bethel, and should we not rid ourselves of every functional god so that only the Lord will be our God?
Toni
